BusinessWeek Online – When Paris-based online mortgage broker Meilleurtaux launched in 1999, founder and chief executive Christophe Cremer had a hard time convincing banks to work with him. Though similar sites in the U.S. such as E-Loan (NasdaqGS:BPOP – News) had long enjoyed success, bankers across the Atlantic were skeptical Meilleurtaux (French for “best rate”) would take off. Cremer forged ahead anyway — and soon racked up the numbers to sway any disbeliever. “I showed them the site was getting over 40,000 applications a month and that it wouldn’t be profitable for them not to work with us,” he says.