Long Island, NY (January 12, 2000) - Vertical Lend, Inc. is pleased to announce the addition of Barry Henstock to its Board of Directors. Vertical Lend enables independent financial professionals including accountants and insurance agents to offer an unprecedented variety of lending solutions directly to their customers. The Vertical Lend program, as an application service provider (ASP) is accessible through

www.verticallend.com as well as through its Loan Specialists at 1-877-692-7762.

Mr. Henstock is a highly experienced financial services executive with more than twenty years in senior management positions. Mr. Henstock is the Founder of Barwin Associates, a financial service consulting firm. Previously, Mr. Henstock was the Senior Vice President of Worldwide Acquisitions for AVCO Financial, a $10 billion financial services company. Prior to AVCO, Mr. Henstock was the Chairman and CEO of Royal Trust Holdings, a U.S bank holding company with $8.0 billion in assets. He also served as Chief Financial Officer for Royal Trustco, a $40 billion Canadian Bank, and was directly responsible for its Asian Operations. Mr. Henstock is a Fellow of the United Kingdom Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Indicating why he accepted the Directorship on Vertical Lend's Board, Mr. Henstock said "I have reviewed numerous financial service technology companies and few have the tremendous opportunity that Vertical Lend has identified and is beginning to capture. The Company is building a powerful distribution channel that delivers significant advantages to its lending partners. Vertical Lend has developed and customized Internet technologies to capture substantial value by most efficiently originating, processing and delivering high quality applications and loans for portfolio lenders. Few companies in the financial technology sector have recognized and developed the means to deploy technology and actually make money in doing so like Vertical Lend."

Said David Peskin, President of Vertical Lend, "We are pleased to welcome Barry Henstock to our Board. His commitment both as a private investor and Director is a strong vote of confidence in the technology application that we are building at Vertical Lend. As Vertical Lend continues to expand its commercial and consumer lending offerings we expect Barry to enhance our ability to determine which products to offer and to assist in the negotiations with potential lending partners."

Financial professionals, typically independent CPAs, financial planners, insurance agents and tax planners, are eligible to participate in the Vertical Lend program. Vertical Lend allows financial professionals access to competitively priced loan products for home purchases and refinancing, loans for automobiles as well as small businesses. Those professionals who become Vertical Lend Associates, also benefit from access to the company's back office lending services, including educational training, loan documentation and forms, credit checks, loan processing and tools for marketing to their own clientele.

"It is a whole new way to get a loan," said David Peskin. "Through our ASP technology, Vertical Lend Associates have instant access to products and services that allow them to fill a much broader range of needs for their clients. Financial professionals have close, established relationships with their customers and are frequently asked to provide advice for obtaining different types of loans. Vertical Lend enables them to serve as a trusted provider of lending solutions without referring customers to a potential competitor such as a large bank. We believe that customers are receiving better advice and making more informed decisions by using a financial professional such as an accountant, insurance agent or financial planner. In addition, as a member of the Vertical Lend program, financial professionals are able to earn compensation for the loans that they help originate."

Vertical Lend offers financial professionals an entire suite of lending solutions such as residential mortgages, small business loans and auto loans, as well as educational tools, calculators, product information and loan pricing. Unlike other lending portals that compete with financial professionals by directly targeting consumers, Vertical Lend enhances a financial advisor's specific relationship with consumers in order to provide higher quality advice, better loan execution and exceptional customer service through a combination of proprietary ASP Internet technology and personal attention. Vertical Lend, Inc. is headquartered in Melville, NY and has approximately 750 Associates. The company originated approximately $150 million in new loans last year. Vertical Lend is licensed in about half of the most populated states in the U.S. and anticipates nationwide licensing within 12 months.