CIT Vendor Technology, an operating group of The CIT Group, Inc., and Bank of Montreal have announced a plan to launch a new e-commerce venture -- an Internet portal -- that brings point-of-sale automobile financing online.

The portal will provide auto dealers and their customers access to a full range of choices in financing automobile purchases online. By using the new portal, auto dealers will gain strong competitive advantages because the point-of-sale focus is designed to significantly enhance relationships with customers.

Routine transactions will be completed in minutes, helping to initiate, close and win repeat sales. Dealers have instant online access to information to help them serve their customers better. In addition, all documentation required to complete the transaction is generated electronically, resulting in the fastest, most efficient loan and lease process available to-day.

The portal is created as a natural extension of FinanciaLinx Corporation, a highly successful automobile lease financing company started by CIT and Bank of Montreal in March of 1999. Currently managing a rapidly expanding portfolio of over 40,000 active vehicle leases, FinanciaLinx bills itself as the only auto finance company that provides a fast-growing list of car dealers with the high-speed capacity and efficiency of the Internet in offering their customers leasing solutions.

This e-business processing has been used extensively and the new portal company builds on these successful e-business technologies and experiences. In April of this year, Bank of Montreal announced its use of FinanciaLinx's e- business processing technology to offer point-of-sale car loans online.

"We are excited about the launch of this new venture," said Kathleen O'Neill, Executive Vice-President, Bank of Montreal. "Once regulatory approvals are received, we expect to begin operations in North America in the early part of the new year."

Brad Nullmeyer, Group CEO of CIT Vendor Technology stated, "This new venture will create a better value for everyone -- consumers, dealers and funders. With this combination of multiple funders and Internet-based processing, dealers and their customers will have online access to a broad spectrum of point-of-sale auto finance offerings through a single point of entry. Funders benefit from the electronic delivery of their products."

About Bank of Montreal

Bank of Montreal, Canada's first bank, is a diversified financial services institution. The bank operates in more than 30 lines of business within its group of companies, including BMO Nesbitt Burns, one of Canada's largest full-service investment firms and Chicago-based Harris Bank, a major U.S. mid-west financial institution.

About CIT

CIT Vendor Technology is a unit of The CIT Group, Inc. CIT (www.cit.com), founded in 1908 and with more than $54 billion in total managed assets, bills itself as the largest publicly held commercial finance organization in the world.