Bankrate Begins Stock Repurchase Program

July 14, 2008 7:30 AM EDT

NEW YORK, July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bankrate, Inc. (Nasdaq: RATE), announced today that the company is acting on its stock repurchase program. The company's Board of Directors previously authorized management to make stock repurchases for up to 50 million dollars. As market and business conditions warrant, the share repurchases are being made by the company's designated brokerage firm, Credit Suisse, and are being conducted under applicable SEC guidelines and regulations, in open market, negotiated or in block transactions. All purchases are subject to the availability of shares and, accordingly, there is no assurance as to the number of shares to be repurchased. In addition, the company will also continue to pursue accretive acquisitions and therefore, there is no assurance that the entire authorized funding will be available for the stock repurchase program.

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"We believe the current valuation of Bankrate's common shares makes the repurchase of our equity a solid investment for the company and will be accretive to shareholder value," said Thomas R. Evans, President and CEO of Bankrate, Inc. "We have over $75 million in cash and our business is growing and generating excellent cash flow which allows for investing in Bankrate stock as well as continuing to seek accretive strategic acquisitions to assist in executing on our plan," Mr. Evans added.

About Bankrate, Inc. (Nasdaq: RATE)

The Bankrate network of companies includes Bankrate.com, Interest.com, Mortgage-calc.com, Nationwide Card Services, Savingforcollege.com, Fee Disclosure and InsureMe. 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.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

Certain matters included in the discussion above may be considered to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Company and members of our management team. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements made with respect to future revenue, revenue growth, market acceptance of our products, and profitability. Investors and prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward- looking statements. Important factors currently known to management that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the following: the willingness of our advertisers to advertise on our web sites; interest rate volatility and our ability to manage the fluctuations in the demand for our advertisements; our ability to develop and maintain a strong brand; our ability to establish and maintain distribution arrangements; our ability to integrate the business and operations of companies that we have acquired, and those we may acquire in the future; our ability to realize expected benefits, including synergies, of companies that we have acquired, and those that we may acquire in the future; our ability to maintain the confidence of our advertisers by detecting click- through fraud and unscrupulous advertisers; the effect of unexpected liabilities we assume from our acquisitions; the effects of expanding our operations internationally; the impact of lawsuits to which we are a party; the ability of consumers to access our Online Network through non-PC devices; increased competition and its effect on our web site traffic, advertising rates, margins, and market share; our ability to manage traffic on our web sites and service interruptions; our ability to protect our intellectual property; the effects of facing liability for content on our web sites; the concentration of ownership of our common stock; the fluctuations of our results of operations from period to period; the accuracy of our financial statement estimates and assumptions; our ability to adapt to technological changes; our ability to secure debt or equity financing at acceptable terms; the impact of legislative or regulatory changes affecting our business; changes in consumer spending and saving habits; changes in accounting principles, policies, practices or guidelines; the effect of provisions in our Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws and certain laws on change-in-control transactions; effect of changes in the stock market and other capital markets; the strength of the United States economy in general; changes in monetary and fiscal policies of the United States Government; other risks described from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission; and our ability to manage the risks involved in the foregoing. These and additional important factors to be considered are set forth under "Introductory Note", "Item 1A. Risk Factors,'' "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations'' and in the other sections of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results or expectations.

    For more information contact:
    Edward J. DiMaria
    SVP, Chief Financial Officer
    edimaria@bankrate.com
    (917) 368-8608

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

SOURCE Bankrate, Inc.

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