CIT and Commfin Partner to Provide Trade Finance On the Web.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 2001

CIT Commercial Services, a division of CIT (NYSE: CIT; TSE: CIT.U), announced an agreement with Commfin(TM), an internet portal that provides online trade finance solutions for business-to-business exchange participants. Internet exchange participants will receive access to accounts receivable discounting, factoring services and, in the near future, inventory financing via Commfin's Web site (www.commfin.com). The agreement reinforces CIT's commitment to embracing the Internet as an alternative distribution network and will further enhance the breadth of lending services available via the Commfin site. CIT Commercial Services is a unit of Commercial Finance, an operating group of CIT.

"We are pleased to align with Commfin, one of the web's premier B2B financing portals," said John F. Daly, president of CIT Commercial Services. "By partnering with Commfin, we are able to reach the growing universe of borrowers who are using the power of the Web as a tool in their search for commercial financing."

Commenting on the partnership, Commfin's acting CEO Alan Kestenbaum said, "We are delighted to have CIT Commercial Services join our prestigious list of lenders. CIT is an internationally-known and well-respected asset-based lender that brings to our partnership many years of experience and an excellent reputation within the industry."

Commfin's Internet trade finance portal provides net market participants with access to a consortium of financial providers with specific product expertise, such as Brown Brothers Harriman & Co and Societe Generale (NYSE: SCGLY). Commfin enables buyers and sellers to receive financing without ever leaving the B2B exchange. Commfin is also the provider of financial solutions to Aluminium.com, a B2B net marketplace for the non-ferrous metals industry.

About Commfin(TM)

Commfin, an internet based platform that streamlines, automates, and accelerates online credit processes by seamlessly connecting buyers and sellers on a B2B internet exchange with a consortium of prominent global financial institutions. Commfin's online trade finance solution significantly contributes to the growth of commercial transactions consummated via Internet exchanges by making financial liquidity readily available to those marketplaces. Liquidity is provided at a competitive cost directly from the financial community, which in turn, leverages the Commfin website to gain access to a scalable and low-cost customer acquisition channel.

The New York City based company was founded in 1999 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aluminium.com, Inc., the leading business services provider and marketplace for the non-ferrous metals industry. Aluminium.com is a member of the divine interVentures Internet Zaibatsu(TM) (NASDAQ: DVIN), a network of B2B e-commerce companies aligned with divine interVentures, inc., an Internet operating company. For further information visit the company's web site at www.commfin.com

About CIT

CIT Commercial Services is the nation's largest provider of factoring, accounts receivable management and lending services. It is a business unit of Commercial Finance, an operating group of The CIT Group, Inc. (NYSE: CIT; TSE: CIT.U).

With over $50 billion in managed assets, CIT is a leading diversified finance company offering vendor, equipment, commercial, factoring, consumer and structured financing capabilities. CIT operates extensively in the United States and Canada with strategic locations in Europe, Latin and South America, and the Pacific Rim. CIT has been in business since 1908 and is recognized as a leader in many of the markets it serves. For more information visit www.cit.com.