In December, the new company raised seed funding of $400,000 from private investors. CEO Tony Wilbert anticipates a first round of venture financing to fund growth in the first quarter of this year.

Henrik Johansson, COO of Creditland, says the company's goal is to make financing easy. The credit superstore aggregates financial services such as credit cards, mortgages, and auto loans. It offers access to over 300 lenders, such as BankBoston, Bank One, and Chemical Bank.

"The site provides a place for everybody to understand and find financial services, and get the best deal," says Mr. Johansson.

MORE TO COMECreditland's first product line offering is mortgages, as well as refinancing and home equity. On Creditland's site, a consumer can check out current rates (updated daily), estimate maximum loan size, calculate payments, compare loans, and apply.

The company plans to launch its consumer credit card product line in February and its secured consumer lending product line in March. Eventually, Creditland plans to also provide small business loans and corporate credit cards.

A broader product offering is an important part of Creditland's positioning as a superstore in an already crowded marketplace of financing Web sites, which include E-Loan, HomeShark, NextCard, and GetSmart.

BRAND STILL MATTERSMr. Johansson isn't too worried about the competition. "I think the superstore concept has proven successful in just about every other industry. It offers more choice to the consumer."

However, George Zachary, a partner with Mohr Davidow Ventures, voiced concern. "Competition will be pretty serious coming from each one of those vertical markets, like mortgages and auto loans," he says. "The business is going to be expensive to build. Branding costs money. And brand is even more important on the Internet."

Steve Jurvetson, partner with Draper Fisher Jurvetson maintains, "There isn't necessarily a compelling notion for an online mall concept." He did acknowledge the convenience factor of a one-stop shop for providing personal information.

Mr. Jurvetson also notes, "Trust is a pretty big element of the business. Inherently, we see in financial markets that a brand name has an advantage. Cobranding will be very important for Creditland."

Creditland's management team is also confident about its revenue model. Its main source of income will be bounties paid by lenders per approved credit card or loan. However, Mr. Zachary wonders, "Will they have enough selection and great pricing to drive traffic?" Creditland appears to have a big selection of lenders, but "great pricing" remains to be seen.

"They're basically aggregating eyeballs," points out Mr. Jurvetson. "Why would they do it any better than Yahoo or someone like that?"

Creditland's Mr. Johansson counters that a company needs multiple points of access throughout the Internet. "Proactive lending companies like MBNA recognize that the Internet will not be won through one access site," he says.