NEW YORK, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bankrate, Inc. (Nasdaq: RATE) announced today that the company has promoted industry veteran Lou Geremia to chief executive officer of InsureMe, replacing the Founder, Tim McTavish.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040122/FLTHLOGO )

Tim McTavish, the founder and CEO of InsureMe and Robin Paquette, the company's COO will step down, as planned, on Jan. 31. "Over the past year that we've owned InsureMe, the company has grown stronger and more profitable under Tim and Robin's guidance. While we will miss Tim and Robin, we all agreed with the company doing so well, that now is a great time for this planned transition," said Thomas R. Evans, CEO of Bankrate, Inc.

Mr. Geremia joined InsureMe in 2008 as chief revenue officer. "Lou Geremia is ideally suited to take over the leadership of InsureMe," stated Mr. Evans. "Lou has the experience and industry background to build upon InsureMe's current success and take the company to the next level," Mr. Evans added.

Prior to InsureMe, Mr. Geremia was co-founder and president of Insurance.com from 1999 until its sale to ComparisonMarket in 2003. Mr. Geremia stayed on at ComparisonMarket (renamed Insurance.com), overseeing business development, partner relations and online marketing programs. Prior to Insurance.com, Mr. Geremia was Senior Vice President at Banc One/First USA Bank, and also has held marketing and strategy positions with Fidelity Investments, Providian Direct Insurance and Travelers Life Insurance.

Additionally, Bankrate also announced the appointment of Todd Chapple as InsureMe's chief revenue officer. Mr. Chapple brings great experience in the online insurance industry to the company. Previously, he held positions as director of Internet marketing at The Hartford Insurance Company and National Sales Manager and later chief marketing officer for NetQuote. Mr. Chapple will join the company on January 5, and will be responsible for managing InsureMe's sales and marketing functions.

InsureMe is one of the largest online sources for free insurance quotes. Customers fill out one application online and are instantly matched to local insurance agents representing major carriers who provide them with quotes on auto, home, life and health insurance. Founded by Tim McTavish in 1993, the company was acquired by Bankrate, Inc. on February 5, 2008. The company is based in Denver, Colorado.

About Bankrate, Inc.

The Bankrate network of companies includes Bankrate.com, Interest.com, Mortgage-calc.com, Nationwide Card Services, Savingforcollege.com, Fee Disclosure, InsureMe CreditCardGuide.com and Bankaholic. Each of these businesses helps consumers to make informed decisions about their personal finance matters. The company's flagship brand, Bankrate.com is a destination site of personal finance channels, including banking, investing, taxes, debt management and college finance. Bankrate.com is the leading aggregator of rates and other information on more than 300 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.com reviews more than 4,800 financial institutions in 575 markets in 50 states. In 2007, Bankrate.com had nearly 60 million unique visitors. Bankrate.com provides financial applications and information to a network of more than 75 partners, including Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), America Online (NYSE: TWX), The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times (NYSE: NYT). Bankrate.com's information is also distributed through more than 500 newspapers.



    For more information contact:

    Bruce J. Zanca
    SVP, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
    bzanca@bankrate.com
    (917) 368-8648

SOURCE Bankrate, Inc.