2. RateWatch Company Profile
• Established in 1989
• Operations located in Fort Atkinson, WI
• Acquired by financial media company TheStreet in 2007
• Monitoring more than 9,000 institutions and 90,000 branches each
week
• Deposit, loan and fee information on hundreds of different types of
financial institution products
– Including current and historical data
• Largest database of rate and fee information on the US Banking
Industry available anywhere
3. TheStreet Company Overview
TheStreet, Inc. is a leading financial media company whose
network of Web sites serves as the premier online
destination for all areas where money and life intersect
• General Statistics: • TheStreet, Inc. Network:
– Headquartered in New York, NY – RateWatch
– Established 1996 – TheStreet
– Nasdaq symbol TST – MainStreet
– Over $57MM in sales in 2010 – BankingMyWay
– StockPickr
– TheStreet Mobile
4. RateWatch Data Overview
• Data collected is driven by bank and credit union client requests
– Data is used primarily to monitor competitor pricing
• Data collection is standardized to ensure fair and equal comparisons
• RateWatch Search Database provides direct user access to all
current and some historical deposit interest rate information
• RateWatch provides clients with only the highest quality data
possible
– Accurate, dependable, unbiased, and up-to-date
– Ensured by attention to detail and a multitude of quality checks and
edits
• Depth, breadth, and standardization of data makes it perfect for all
types of statistical industry analyses
– Providing reliable data for research on US Banking Industry
5. RateWatch Deposits Interest Rate Data
• Interest rates from over 90,000 financial institution locations
– Down to the branch level for institutions of all sizes
– Allows for views of regional pricing of individual institutions
• Fully refreshed weekly
• Standard Deposit Categories
– 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 48, & 60 mo CDs @ $10K balance tier
– Savings @ $2.5K balance tier
– Interest Checking @ $0 & $2.5K balance tiers
– Money Market @ $2.5K, $10K, $ $25K balance tiers
– Premium Money Market @ $10K & $25K balance tiers
– Fixed and Variable IRA
– All Specials (includes many odd term CDs among many other products)
• Many other products surveyed, but the greatest depth of data is in
standard categories
6. RateWatch Loans Interest Rate Data
• Interest rates from over 40,000 financial institution locations
– Down to the branch level for institutions of all sizes
– Allows for views of regional pricing strategies
• Fully refreshed monthly
• Standard Loan Categories
– New & Used Autos
– Personal Unsecured Loans
– Credit cards
– Home Equity Lines of Credit, Home Equity Loans
– 1, 3, 5 Year ARMS and Balloon Mortgages
– 15 & 30 Year Fixed Mortgages
• Many other products surveyed, but the greatest depth of data is in
standard categories
7. RateWatch Fee Data
• Fee data from over 10,000 financial institution locations
• Updated on an annual or bi-annual basis for the majority of the
locations
• Standard fee reports include:
– Retail fees – over 80 fees and data points
– Loan fees – over 35 fees and data points
– Cash Management fees – over 40 fees and data points
– Small Business fees – over 40 fees and data points
– Product Analysis – in depth analysis of features of checking, savings, and
money market accounts
• Many other fee categories covered but the greatest depth of data
collected is from the standard reports
8. RateWatch Data Collection
• Data Collection Methods
– Call - Market Research Specialists call the institution directly to obtain specified
rate information
– Email - Some institutions send us an electronic copy of their rates which will flow
directly into our system
– FTP File – Some institutions send us large data files that can also be routed directly
into our systems
– Online- Some institutions utilize our website to submit their updates
– Web - Some data can be manually collected as listed on the institution’s website or
data retrieval can be accomplished by our own Rate Scraping software.
• Quality Control
– Checks and balances built into our data entry system will automatically flag
potentially incorrect data
– Flagged data will then be thoroughly investigated to ensure accuracy
– Voice- and screen-capture technologies are also utilized to monitor data collection
9. RateWatch US Banking Industry Data
Unbiased
Detailed Accurate
RateWatch
Data
Relevant Reliable
Complete
