E*Trade zooms into auto loans

E*Trade Financial is now offering automobile loans through its Web site, the online financial services company announced on Tuesday. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company is offering loans for new and used cars directly to consumers and is also offering to refinance existing car loans. The company bought Lendnetwork.com, which specializes in offering automobile loans, to jump-start its car lending, E*Trade said in a statement. E*Trade did not say when it bought Lendnetwork.com or what it paid for the company. E*Trade and Lendnetwork.com representatives did not return calls seeking comment. Unlike rival Ameritrade, which has focused on online stock trading, E*Trade has been steadily moving away from its core brokerage business. In the last year, the company began offering customers investment and planning advice, bought market maker Dempsey, and opened an online mortgage service. --Troy Wolverton, Special to ZDNet News