CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Starting in March, LendingTree will donate its LendingTree Guide to Smart Borrowing to all participants of CharlotteSaves' financial literacy programs (also known as "savers") in their packet of savings and budgeting materials. The LendingTree Guide to Smart Borrowing is a useful and comprehensive booklet full of easy-to-understand information that helps borrowers learn how to use credit wisely throughout their life stages, from students and young singles to empty nesters and seniors.

The partnership with CharlotteSaves is an extension of the LendingTree Smart Borrower consumer advocacy initiative that launched in 2004, and marks another step forward in the company's campaign to help educate Americans about responsible borrowing practices and improve their financial literacy.

CharlotteSaves (found at http://www.charlottesaves.org/) is a non-profit organization that provides Charlotte-area households, particularly those more financially vulnerable, with savings and wealth building skills and information. The group was formed by a coalition of area nonprofit, corporate, and government groups and set out to provide information, advice, and encouragement to Charlotte savers who wish to pay down debt, build an emergency fund, save for a home, save for an education, or save for retirement. To date, CharlotteSaves has helped approximately 4,425 area residents make savings not just a household priority but an important step towards financial freedom and personal wealth.

The LendingTree Guide to Smart Borrowing was developed in conjunction with Dr. Robert D. Manning, author of Credit Card Nation and Research Professor and Director of the Center for Consumer Financial Services at the Rochester Institute of Technology. In 2005, with underwriting from LendingTree, Dr. Manning investigated Americans' changing attitudes towards debt and evaluated what consumers can do to become smarter borrowers. The results of the research included the Living with Debt: A Life Stage Analysis of Changing Attitudes and Behavior report and the LendingTree Guide to Smart Borrowing. The cornerstone of the LendingTree financial literacy program is the Smart Borrower Center found at http://www.lendingtree.com/smartborrower.

About LendingTree, LLC

LendingTree, LLC is the nation's number one online lending exchange, providing a marketplace that connects consumers with multiple lenders that compete for their business. Since inception, LendingTree has facilitated more than 23 million loan requests and $185 billion in closed loan transactions. LendingTree provides access to mortgages and refinance loans, home equity loans/lines of credit, auto loans, personal loans, credit cards and high-yield savings accounts via http://www.lendingtree.com/ and 800-555-TREE.

Launched in 1998 with headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, LendingTree, LLC also owns and operates LendingTree Loan(SM), LendingTree Settlement Services, LLC, GetSmart(R), and HomeLoanCenter.com. LendingTree, LLC is an operating company of IAC .

About CharlotteSaves

CharlotteSaves is organized by a coalition of representatives from financial institutions, community and non-profit organizations, large and small employers, faith-based institutions, and neighborhood groups who work together to encourage, persuade and assist financially vulnerable Charlotte households with savings and wealth building.

CharlotteSaves' campaign is associated with a national effort known as AmericaSaves. AmericaSaves provides in-kind and start-up financial support for CharlotteSaves as well as other campaigns established throughout the country dedicated to raising savings awareness. CharlotteSaves launched the program in the Charlotte area in September 2002.

In June 2006, CharlotteSaves (http://www.charlottesaves.org/) partnered with Alliance Credit Counseling (http://www.knowdebt.org/) to offer a seamless menu of services from budgeting, saving, credit counseling, housing counseling and bankruptcy counseling.

CONTACT: Allison Vail of LendingTree, LLC, +1-704-943-8339,
allison.vail@lendingtree.com

Web site: http://www.lendingtree.com/
http://www.charlottesaves.org/
http://www.lendingtree.com/smartborrower
http://www.knowdebt.org/

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