NetBank has announced the formation of NetBank Dealer Financial Services (DFS), an indirect lending division initially serving automobile dealers in Florida.

The division will specialize in financing new and used car purchases.

"The multi-billion dollar auto lending market provides us with an excellent opportunity to diversify our business by replicating our successful third-party mortgage lending model," said Douglas K. Freeman, chairman and CEO of NetBank, Inc. "This new initiative also provides us with natural cross-sell synergies with banking, insurance and mortgage customers.

"Auto lending is traditionally less rate sensitive and historically counter cyclical to the mortgage industry," Freeman continued. "Following our financial intermediary model, we will package the loans and sell them into the secondary market. And dealers will find what the 6,000-plus mortgage brokers and correspondent lenders who do business with us have found: NetBank offers a superior value proposition by doing business better, cheaper and faster."

Initially, NetBank DFS says it will focus on serving auto dealers in Florida, but that focus is expected to expand outside of Florida in 2004. In addition to the lending products, NetBank DFS will offer auto insurance products through its affiliate NetInsurance, Inc.

NetBank says it has hired 25-year industry veteran Jorge Font as Director of Dealer Finance. Font's experience includes several leadership positions with the former Barnett Bank, including managing the Central Florida Region of Barnett Dealer Financial Services, with responsibility for marketing, originations, operations and collections. Following the Barnett merger with Bank of America, Jorge joined AmSouth where he was the Director of Florida Dealer Services for the past five years. NetBank DFS will operate out of Maitland, Fla.

About NetBank

NetBank says it is the country's first commercially successful Internet bank. NetBank currently has $2.2 billion in deposits and serves customers in all 50 states and more than 20 foreign countries. Its full line of financial services is designed around the needs and lifestyles of its customers. Through a branchless business model, NetBank operates at a fraction of the cost of a traditional bank. Since its start in 1996, NetBank has passed its cost savings to customers through more competitive deposit rates and free account services, such as online bill payment. Through its mortgage lending subsidiaries, Market Street Mortgage(R) and RBMG(R), NetBank ranks as a top 30 U.S. mortgage lender. NetBank, Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC, is a primary operating subsidiary of NetBank, Inc., a diversified financial services company. For more information on NetBank's products and services, please visit www.netbank.com.