Company Press Release

ARC Systems and Contour Software Enter Into a Technical Alliance; Companies to Integrate ARC Systems' AU Technology With Contour's Internet Site

AUSTIN, Texas and CAMPBELL, Calif., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- ARC Systems Inc. and Contour Software, Inc. announced a technical alliance through which the companies will work together to integrate ARC Systems' automated underwriting technology with Contour's Internet site. ARC Systems provides lending institutions with decision power for better business practices, giving lenders the ability to provide answers at the point-of-sale. Contour is a Silicon Valley-based provider of mortgage loan software systems for the financial industry and a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of First American Financial Corp.

Contour offers The Loan Handler(TM) to its member brokers on the company's Internet site. Users will be able to submit applications for automated underwriting directly from Contour's Web-site and receive point-of-sale decisions through ARC Systems' credit decisioning technology from participating lenders.

``Brokers who use Contour's The Loan Handler to originate mortgages now have the power to provide underwriting decisions at the point-of-sale,'' said ARC Systems' President Ed Jones. ``Because Contour and ARC Systems are both application service providers (ASPs) offering solutions via the Internet, this partnership opens up both companies' product offerings to an even larger community, allowing more brokers to benefit from the power of the Internet.''

Scott Cooley, president of Contour Software said, ``We welcome ARC Systems to the ContourAble partnership. We believe the use of automated underwriting systems across the Internet will increase, and our partnership is proof of this industry trend. It's important that we give our customers the easiest and most reliable solutions in today's e-commerce world. This alliance further demonstrates our dedication to our customers.''

About Contour Software

Founded in 1982, Contour Software offers practical solutions for the mortgage loan finance industry. The company's flagship product, The Mortgage Banker Series(TM), is a complete line of software products for every facet of mortgage lending, from qualification to servicing. With a customer base of 40,000 active seat licenses, Contour Software is a technology leader with the most complete line of software products and the most electronic commerce connections in the industry. Customers include mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers, credit unions, commercial banks and savings institutions. A direct, wholly owned subsidiary of The First American Financial Corporation, Contour has more than 130 employees and 40 additional sales representatives located across the United States.

For more information, contact Scott Cooley, president, Contour Software Inc., 700 West Hamilton, Campbell, CA 95008-0403, call 800-CONTOUR (800-266- 8687) or visit www.contoursoft.com, www.mtgloan.com, www.lenderdirectory.com or www.processloan.com. User contacts and case studies are available upon request.

About First American

The First American Financial Corp., based in Santa Ana, Calif., is the nation's leading provider of business information and related products and services. The corporation's three primary business segments include: title insurance; real estate information and services, which includes mortgage origination, mortgage servicing and database products and services; and consumer information and services, which provides home warranties; automotive, subprime and direct-to-consumer credit reporting; property and casualty insurance; property and automotive insurance tracking services; resident screening; pre-employment screening; lender-placed flood and hazard insurance; investment advisory; and trust and banking services. Information about the company and an archive of its press releases can be found on the Internet at www.firstam.com.

About ARC Systems

Founded in 1984 as Advanced Resource Computer Systems, ARC Systems is a privately held company that provides lending institutions, banks and credit unions across the nation with the power to make fast, accurate and consistent decisions at the point-of-sale for risk-based pricing and credit evaluation. Empowering financial institutions with the ability to make better business decisions, the company's proprietary, patent-pending, rules-based system is used by more than 80 lending operations nationwide, including Aames Financial Corp., First Franklin Financial, Option One and Irwin Mortgage.

For more information about ARC Systems, contact Mary Tipps at (512) 892- 5550, via email at mtipps@arcsystems.com, or write the company at 5316 Highway 290 West, Suite 500, Austin, TX 78735. The company's Web site can be viewed at www.arcsystems.com