FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joe Boyle
Chief Executive Officer
803-758-2528

AFFINITY TECHNOLOGY GROUP ANNOUNCES SURETY'S
FORMATION OF JOINT VENTURE

Columbia, SC, December 19, 2000 - Affinity Technology Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: AFFI) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Surety Mortgage, Inc., has entered into a joint venture arrangement with HomeGold, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of HomeGold Financial, Inc. The joint venture will allow Surety to process and underwrite all conventional mortgage loan applications received by HomeGold, Inc.

Joe Boyle, President and Chief Executive Officer of Affinity, said, "We are very excited about this arrangement. It is a significant opportunity to leverage the unique back office operating capabilities we have built at Surety. This is a win-win deal that we expect will improve our revenue generating capabilities while providing HomeGold with the ability to convert and close additional loan applications."

Mr. Ronnie Sheppard, Chief Executive Officer of HomeGold, Inc., said, "This is a very unique and significant opportunity to take a large number of leads, which traditionally cannot be converted, and develop incidental loan origination volume. Based on initial samples of our turn down loans, it appears that a significant percentage may qualify under Surety's conforming loan products."

About Affinity Technology Group, Inc., and Surety Mortgage, Inc.

Affinity's technology enables financial institutions to link their branches, call centers, Internet customers, and indirect agents electronically to their credit departments, providing fully automated lending - and, if necessary, connectivity to a loan officer - through every channel Affinity is located on the World Wide Web at www.affi.net. Surety Mortgage provides origination, underwriting, processing and closing services to community banks and credit unions enabling them the ability to offer their customers a mortgage product without traditional investments in people and facilities.

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Forward-looking statements in this news release, including statements regarding the number of loans to be processed by Surety under its joint venture with HomeGold, are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that these statements involve several risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected.