ICBA AND FREDDIE MAC RENEW AND ENHANCE ALLIANCE AGREEMENT

ICBA Members Get Increased Access to Secondary Market Products and Services

Washington, DC – The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) the nation's largest banking trade organization, and Freddie Mac announced today new enhancements to their existing alliance agreement. The new agreement gives ICBA member banks even better access to the secondary mortgage market through Freddie Mac and a comprehensive suite of products and services designed to help reach more borrowers in their communities.

The alliance provides ICBA members with incentives, technology, training resources and market-penetrating mortgage products to assist in sales of mortgages through Freddie Mac. These advantages, when combined with standard Freddie Mac offerings, provide ICBA members a more robust set of options that will help community banks compete successfully for mortgage volume.

"In developing these stronger ties with ICBA members, Freddie Mac is recognizing that community banks know their customers, make top-quality loans and are in the best position to meet the needs of their communities," said Camden R. Fine, ICBA president and CEO. "We applaud Freddie Mac for rewarding these characteristics by extending the alliance and enhancing member banks' competitiveness in the market."

"Today's announcement gives ICBA members assurance they will have the sophisticated mortgage products and services they need to compete for demanding borrowers," said Dave Stevens, senior vice president for single family sourcing at Freddie Mac. "Our alliance with ICBA further underscores the depth of our commitment to focus on the special needs of our lender customers and provide the resources to make home possible in their communities."

Key features of the Freddie Mac-ICBA alliance include:

Technology advantages using Freddie Mac's Loan Prospector automated underwriting service and a Mortgagebot with Loan Prospector^® business-to-consumer website for online mortgage lending;
Secondary market sale advantages, with cash executions customized to meet individual business needs;
Increased access to capital markets and portfolio management experts;
Private-label subservicing through Resource Mortgage Solutions;
Comprehensive training, with a variety of web-conference training sessions designed exclusively for ICBA members;
Guaranteed rural housing loan products that help bankers reach more borrowers in rural communities and features various funding options, no mortgage insurance and no down payment.

First announced in 2003, the ICBA/Freddie Mac alliance is designed to help ICBA members serve more customers and stay competitive in today's dynamic marketplace. The new alliance agreement extends the relationship between the two organizations through February of 2008.For more information on the ICBA alliance, visit www.icba.org or freddiemac.com/singlefamily/icba.html or call 1-866-522-1143.

The Independent Community Bankers of America represents the largest constituency of community banks of all sizes and charter types in the nation, and is dedicated exclusively to representing the interests of the community banking industry. ICBA aggregates the power of its members to provide a voice for community banking interests in Washington, resources to enhance community bank education and marketability, and profitability options to help community banks compete in an ever-changing marketplace. For more information, visit ICBA's website at www.icba.org.

Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation established by Congress in 1970 to support homeownership and rental housing. Freddie Mac purchases single-family and multifamily residential mortgages and mortgage-related securities, which it finances primarily by issuing mortgage pass through securities and debt instruments in the capital markets. Over the years, Freddie Mac has opened doors for one in six homebuyers and more than two million renters in America.

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