For immediate release

Bankrate.com study: Beware of checking accounts bearing interest
Non-interest checking accounts may offer a better deal

NORTH PALM BEACH, FLA. - March 28, 2001 - Bankrate.com (www.bankrate.com), the Internet's leading consumer finance marketplace and flagship site of Bankrate, Inc. (OTCBB: RATE), today announced the findings of its semiannual Checking Account Pricing Study.

Findings include:

• Interest-bearing checking sounds good, but these accounts offer so little and are fraught with so many fees and minimum balances that most people will spend more on having an interest-bearing account than a non-interest bearing account.
• Fees continue their never-ending march skyward. Average NSF fees for bounced checks now average more than $24, a 12 percent jump since October '98.
• ATM surcharges continue to climb to an average of $1.44. Some of the largest ATM owners charge $2 per transaction. Bankrate estimates that in all, American consumers pay $2.2 billion a year in ATM fees.

The findings on interest-bearing checking accounts make it clear that they're rarely worth it. Interest-bearing checking accounts require a higher minimum amount to open, impose higher minimum balances to avoid fees and cost more in monthly service charges than non-interest accounts.

Bankrate.com found the average monthly service fee for interest-bearing accounts rose 3 percent to $10.77, but is just $6.21 on non-interest accounts.

"The best checking account offers -- those that allow consumers to most efficiently deploy their dollars -- are those without monthly service fees and per-item charges," said Greg McBride, a Bankrate.com financial analyst. "This 'no-cost' account is often a non-interest account at a traditional bank but frequently pays a very competitive yield at an Internet bank."

The study also provides a listing of the best and worst checking accounts in the United States, and compares Internet banks to their brick-and-mortar counterparts.

Greg McBride is available to discuss the customer ramifications of the study. Read the entire study here.

About Bankrate.com
Bankrate.com is owned and operated by Bankrate, Inc. (OTCBB:RATE). Bankrate.com is the Internet's leading consumer finance marketplace, with an average of 1.6 million unique visitors per month connecting with more than 4,800 financial institutions in 157 markets in 50 states. Bankrate operates a portfolio of personal finance channels, including banking, investing, taxes and small-business finance. It is the leading aggregator of 191 financial products, including mortgages, credit cards, new and used auto loans, money market accounts and CDs, checking and ATM fees, home equity loans and online banking fees.

Bankrate provides financial applications and information to a network of more than 130 partners including MSN (NASDAQ: MSFT), Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO), America Online (NYSE: AOL), CNN and Smart Money. The company's information is also distributed through more than 100 national and state publications.

Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Act. Investors are cautioned that actual results could differ materially from those anticipated by such statements and are advised to consult our current SEC filings for additional information concerning risk factors that affect the Company's business.

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