Fannie, Finet Snag Web Award

Fannie Mae and Finet Holdings Corp. have received the 1998 Computerworld Smithsonian Award in the finance, insurance, and real estate category for their efforts to develop mortgage-related Internet technology.Fannie Mae was recognized for creating its HomePath.com website and developing Desktop Underwriter, its automated underwriting system. Finet was cited for combining its iQualify.com website with Fannie Mae's DU and its Web technology to offer online access to mortgage information, multiple lenders, and loan approvals. Fannie Mae said Monument Mortgage, a Finet subsidiary, was the first of its approved lenders to integrate DU into its Internet channel to offer underwriting recommendations at the point of sale from its website, iQualify. The website is hyperlinked to Fannie Mae's HomePath.com, which is designed to enable consumers to determine whether they are ready for homeownership. Fannie Mae and Finet were nominated for the award by Sun Microsystems Inc. and Sybase Inc. The Computerworld Smithsonian Awards, founded in 1989, recognize leadership in the innovative use of information technology in a variety of fields.