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| December 19, 2000
UAEL/EAEL We at EAEL feel it is our obligation to inform members that the rumor regarding a potential merger of the EAEL with another association is false. The EAEL is proud to be an independent association for Leasing Companies, Funding Sources, and Service Companies, dedicated to serving its membership. We look forward to serving our members in 2001 by delivering valuable information and networking opportunities to help in the challenging times that lay ahead. ( I spoke to EAEL direct about this, too. While Chuck Brazier is the incoming president for UAEL and Gordon Roberts sits on the board of EAEL, that's about as close as it will be. For ten years or more, I have heard this rumor--and while there are many who would like it to happen, there are more against. I do have it on very good authority there is a move for the merger, but it obviously is "one-sided". editor ). CapitalStream Announces CapitalStream Advantage, Latest Update of the Top Industry Software Solution for Leasing Professionals User-friendly desktop solution now offers even more comprehensive tracking and management of all phases of leasing transactions Seattle, WA ? December 19, 2000 ? To enable finance brokers to facilitate lease financing transactions more efficiently through their own desktop, Capital Stream, Inc. today announced the release of CapitalStream Advantage. Advantage is the latest improvement of its System 1, Version 2.5 desktop software, acknowledged by the equipment finance industry as the tool of choice for managing lease financing. Advantage is tightly integrated with CapitalStream.com, the e-commerce solution for the business finance industry, and allows brokers to receive and process credit requests right from the Advantage desktop. Advantage allows customers to extend their business via the Internet - safely, securely, and reliably. With its new 32-bit architecture and Microsoft Access 2000 database, Advantage increases speed and flexibility while saving time and money. It provides instant, in-depth views of every stage in the lease finance process and eliminates the costly and time-consuming hassles associated with re-typing information gathered throughout the customer life cycle. Advantage users can free up time to increase both sales and service their customers. Advantage incorporates user-friendly functions from the previous version, including the ability to organize and track the entire lease origination process from start to finish. New document management functionality allows brokers to seamlessly create, modify, and distribute letters, quotes, contracts and other documents online. Advantage users can also submit electronic credit applications to online funding sources and instantly offer finance programs to current or future customers when they link Advantage's desktop functionality with CapitalStream.com. According to CapitalStream's President and CEO, Stephen Campbell, "Advantage offers the dual appeal of efficiency and convenience. Companies using Advantage can boost sales by automating the lease origination process, thus freeing up many hours previously spent on time-consuming, labor intensive tasks." Advantage offers more than 50 predefined report formats, data import templates, customer and lease information on a single screen, automated UCC filing, call and task management, additional documentation management and full Web inter operability with financial supply chain partners via CapitalStream.com. About CapitalStream Seattle-based CapitalStream provides hosted e-commerce solutions for commercial financing. CapitalStream gives finance partners the power to automate and control the commercial finance process from transaction origination to documentation via our e-finance platform. The company's private-labeled solution, CapitalStream.com, provides the infrastructure that enables finance companies and manufacturers to create tailored finance programs, build credit work flow, retrieve credit scores and content, and offer financing at the point of sale. CapitalStream has been an established industry leader for over five years, and has helped several hundred financial organizations increase their competitiveness, customer service and profitability. For more information, just visit their web site at www.capitalstream.com Excellent Advice from Steve Reid---Santa Barbara Bank & Trust Over the course of time I have offered these ideas to brokers/discounters, but with the continued changes that are taking place within our industry I thought I'd pass this along to you also. Hopefully, it may save some time and frustration down the road for some. As a funding source, before we will approve a broker/discounter to send us deals, we check them out by running credit reports, confirming banks and investigating their relationships with other funding sources. This only makes sense, as one should know the people or businesses they are working with. My question to the broker/discounter is, why don't you thoroughly check out the funding sources where you are sending deals? If they are a public company, it is easy to find 10Q's, 10K's and all types of press releases stating how well (or not) they are doing. If they are closely held, why not check out their bank or credit lines. As the current climate is one of change, one should periodically update the information. As a small business you probably have thousands of dollars in commission at risk with each funder, not counting the value of the relationships that you have built up over the years with your vendors. If you think about it, the local office supply company won't let you out the door without credit information even if they have only a couple of hundred dollars at risk. And remember, when checking out bank lines, a low 6 balance may sound impressive, but it will only cover a handful of $50K "app only" deals. Knowing your funding sources will not guarantee you won't have problems down the road, but it sure may eliminate the number or magnitude of those opportunities. Steve
Reid Doesn't Like "Name With Held" on E-Mail To
those without the necessary guts to put their name on a comment about someone
else maybe you best keep your mouth shut. What are you hiding for? Do you think
that maybe that others will not put credence in your comments if they who made
them? Print it if you want Kit. I just get tired of seeing that word anonymous.Thanks for the opportunity to vent. ( everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I will honor those that would like to with hold their name, for whatever reason they choose.editor ) The Final Word???? Kit, I hope you aren't getting tired of this dialog yet. I will keep answering because I think it's important for people to get this message. Dear "name withheld by request" While I don't know you, you have made some valid points. Being honest with a vendor is the moral thing to do and the very least that one can do. What about the lessee from whom you have taken money in the situation you describe? Do you not feel an ethical obligation to make that customer whole? Wouldn't you be concerned about a lawsuit? You suggest that it is a part of the brokers job to take transactions that "test" the market. I could get on board with that concept to an extent but I think it's a somewhat altruistic view of the brokers 'job. In my experience most sales people (most brokers are really good sales people) will take the path of least resistance whenever they can. Moving away from altruism and dealing with just the "truism" part, what really happens is that a lot of brokers actively seek transactions that they, personally, wouldn't do in a million years. A case in point would be the ever famous,"We'll take all your turn downs" sales presentation. In order to make good on the promises made in this type of presentation one must seek funding from sources that view the business from a similar vantage point. The other truism is that most brokers are looking for the most points they can get from the funding source who will charge them the least. What's wrong with that, you say? The current situation that has been the subject of this discussion is exactly what's wrong with that. "Funding Sources", to establish themselves, will make an attempt to "buy" market share. Remember that the broker is the "seller" of the market share. There are various types of "currency" that a lender can use to accomplish this, those being "high" commissions, "low" rates, "relaxed" credit standards, "bonuses" (one of my personal historic favorites), or "special programs" such as C credit D credit, etc. The funding source at this point is basically engaging in the same behavior as the broker who states "We'll buy your turn downs" In fact I would maintain that "We'll buy your turn downs" occurs as a direct result of the perception that the broker has a buyer for those transactions. I will refer you again to Kit's list. How many leasing companies can you pick who were trying to "buy market share?" The point of this goes back to my personal philosophy(and it is just that, my personal philosophy)that you will always be safe if you can honestly ask and answer that you believe enough in the transaction to buy it with your money. If you deal with lenders that believe you have this attitude you will find that your relationship is no longer "adversarial or ambivalent" but geared toward true partnership. You may now be accusing me of being altruistic but I am relating my personal experience after spending years asking myself "How can I convince the lenders to ultimately trust me to participate in the udnerwriting, send me the money and allow my company to fund the vendor, get rates that are generally better than average in the market, etc.?" The answer was Shared Risk. As I said this is my personal philosophy. I don't expect that it would work for everyone but it has been and continues to be great for our business. This is not, by the way, something that we did here at LeaseNOW overnight. It has taken us several years to evolve to this state. Most would consider LeaseNOW a true hybrid in the market. I believe that we have reached an ideal balance between funding source and broker and quite honestly there is an element of freedom to it that is welcome on a daily basis. I am receiving 8-10 comments a day on this topic, most of which are unsigned. About half the people tell me I am on the right track and the other half tell me I full of bullshit. I enjoy getting all of the comments on this type of subject and I guarantee anyone who writes me that I will answer, even if I have to stay up all night to do it. Thanks
Friday there was a scare, suddenly Leasing News started getting e-mails, do you know what happened to Financial Pacific???? Dear Kit: The Northwest was hit with some terrible weather last night, surprise huh? We lost power over night and it effected all phone lines in the building. We were without phones for last three hours. Sorry for the trouble, things are good now! Tony
Sedlacek, CLP ( The East has also been hit with bad weather, as several leasing companies and banks closed early due to inclement weather. We had friends stuck in North Carolina and Cincinnati as Chicago O'Hare was closed down. editor ) Michigan National Wins 'Best Financial Services Web Site' Award 2000 WebAward Competition Honors Site as Best of Industry FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The Web Marketing Association (WMA) has recognized Michigan National for having the "Best Financial Services Web Site" in its 2000 WebAward web site competition. The Michigan National web site (MichiganNational.com ) won in the "Best of Industry" category, which featured head-to-head competition against sites entered in the same line of business. Entries are judged by a panel of independent Internet experts on seven criteria, including design, content, navigation, innovation, interactivity, ease of use and technology. Judges included members of the media, advertising executives, site designers, content providers and web masters . "We are honored to have earned the 'Best Financial Services Web Site' award," said Doug Andrews, Director of Internet and Direct Retailing at Michigan National. "When we redesigned MichiganNational.com, our goal was to significantly improve our customers' experience. We believe that we have accomplished that goal." Michigan National launched the redesigned site in May. The site features a dynamic Web Banking service designed to provide Michigan National customers with free access to up-to-the-minute account information, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Web Banking also allows Michigan National clients to track and manage their net worth, track spending by category and pay bills to anyone, anywhere at any time. Business customers, too, benefit from the improved site. A new navigation system provides faster access to information on loans and leasing, merchant services, cash management, checking and savings products, and much more. Michigan National provides diversified financial services and offers creative ideas and product options designed to help consumers and businesses meet their financial goals. It is committed to being the financial services corporation of first choice in its markets and provides the leading-edge products and services that customers expect from a member of a global financial network. Visit Michigan National's web site at MichiganNational.com SOURCE
Michigan National Corporation Austin, Texas, - DuitSoftware, a leading provider of Web-based leasing solutions, unveiled DUIT! 2.0 today, designed to enable leasing companies to empower customers to build their leases online, to instantly increase the influx of leasing applications, and to provide an automated enrollment interface for vendors. DUIT! was built from day one to be optimized for use by small and medium-size leasing companies. DUIT! can be implemented and deployed quickly. The only solution optimized for small & medium-size leasing companies DUIT! 2.0 helps leasing companies address challenges of managing and filtering the influx of prospective customers, general management of resultant paperwork, and complications due to shortage of staff. DUIT!TM offers an intuitive, quickly deployable solution that requires no programming experience to access and maintain. Alex Lorenz, Director of Marketing and Sales and co-founder of DuitSoftware, pointed out, "Leasing companies are losing customers and money due to busy signals, frustrating voice mail, delayed response time, and overwhelming paperwork. With DUIT!, customers can get most of their questions answered, build their lease, and apply online. We even make it easy for leasing companies to enable vendors to offer the leasing alternative to their customers. DUIT! creates a hands-off environment for the leasing company, early on in the sales cycle, giving them more time to offer the customer the personalized service they need. DUIT! is so affordable, it will pay for itself with just one lease." DUIT! features: -
A multi-page web site About DuitSoftware DuitSoftware is a leading provider of vertical-specific online business solutions, enabling companies to take advantage of the speed and automation of the web, and instantly increase the volume of customer inquiries, requiring minimal cash outlay, and no programming experience. DuitSoftware is based in Austin, with offices in the U.S. and Mexico . For more information on DuitSoftware, visit http://www.DuitSoftware.com, or contact the company at 800 880 7555 Duit is Balinese for "money" © 2000 DuitSoftware. All
rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Dear Kit, Thanks for publishing my letter to the UAEL membership in Leasingnews. I have one correction however. You listed the e-mail address at the UAEL to obtain a login name and password as "phone@uael.org". It should be "phong@uael.org" as this would go to our webmaster Phong Sae Chow. Thanks Bob Rodi drlease@leasenow.com ( We will make the correction to the story that now appears in our "Archives." All our past reports are available on line, for free, and you can use "search" to find topics or things of interest. editor). eMarket Capital Moves Into Larger Office Space in King of Prussia KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- eMarket Capital, Inc., (http://www.emarketcapital.com), riding a wave of steady growth during its first few months of operation, has quadrupled the size of its offices by moving from Phoenixville to new space in King of Prussia, a Philadelphia suburb. The company has recently added Gerber Scientific, VPI (Vision Products Incorporated) and Barco Electronic Tooling Systems to its client list. The new 8,000-square-foot space contains two conference areas and can accommodate 40 employees, twice eMarket Capital's present staff. "The new office should serve us well as we continue to grow over the next year," said Jonathan Moran, eMarket Capital's founder and CEO of the business-to-business leasing intermediary. eMarket Capital provides private label leasing services that help manufacturers close more deals by making competitive lease financing available to their customers. The company uses a patent-pending Web-based process to enable equipment manufacturers to help their customers secure the fairest and most competitively priced lease financing plan for their purchases. Customers fill out one application to receive multiple offers from lenders over a two-day period. Data is submitted in a format that makes it easy for customers to conduct an apples-to-apples comparison of offers submitted and subsequently select the best possible leasing deal. The service targets capital equipment purchases from $5,000 to $1 million. Transactions in this range are most easily adapted to the Internet, and they comprise over 50 percent of the overall market, which is expected to grow 5 to 8 percent a year. Effective December 18th, the new address for eMarket Capital is 1040 First Avenue, Suite 108, King of Prussia, PA 19406. The company can be reached by phone at 800-994-4369 (or 610-354-8820) and by fax, 610-354-8835. For more information visit the Web site at http://www.eMarketCapital.com. SOURCE
eMarket Capital, Inc. MicroFinancial Inc. --MFI-- Announces Quarterly Dividend WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 2000--The Board of Directors of MicroFinancial Inc. (NYSE:MFI) voted to pay a dividend of $0.045 per common share, payable on or before January 12, 2001 to holders of record of MFI common stock as of December 29, 2000. This dividend is the same as the prev ious quarters, and has increased from 04 the same quarter last year. "This is the twenty-third consecutive quarterly dividend since we started paying dividends in July of 1995," says Richard Latour, Executive Vice President, COO and CFO. Historically, the dividend has been increased by $0.005 per share (adjusted for stock splits) each July. "Our dividend policy provides investors with immediate cash returns on their investment, and is a tangible proof of the high quality of earnings MFI produces. Most important, because of the strong cash flow, low financial leverage and high returns on equity, these dividends do not affect our ability to self-finance some of our growth," adds Mr. Latour MicroFinancial Inc. (NYSE: MFI), headquartered in Waltham, MA, and with additional locations in Woburn, MA, and Newark, CA, is a financial intermediary specializing in leasing and financing for products in the $500 to $10,000 range. The company has been in operation since 1986 and has been profitable each year since 1987. Statements in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In addition, words such as "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "views, " and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The Company cautions that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect the management's view only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. The Company cannot assure that it will be able to anticipate or respond timely to changes which could adversely affect its operating results in one or more fiscal quarters. Results of operations in any past period should not be considered indicative of results to be expected in future periods. Fluctuations in operating results may result in fluctuations in the price of the Company's common stock. For a more complete description of the prominent risks and uncertainties inherent in the Company's business, see the risks factors described in documents the Company files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. CONTACT:
RUMORS--- Trying to ferret out a rumor I have been hearing for several months that Preferred Leasing, Lake Tahoe, California, I believe, has been sold. I heard it was to former Republic Leasing of Anaheim principals, who left Sierra Cities about a year or so ago. This is the company that considers themselves a "marketing company," hiring college telemarketers...had up to 250 at one time, and sold their leases to Manifest, GE/Colonial, Commerce Security, among others---high volume, direct mail and telephone, very heavy "pre-approved" approach, fast turn around, who hit a credit problem marketplace and wanted to get out. This is all rumor. No one will talk on the record. Any information to confirm or deny would be appreciated. + _ _ + Heard
there were a number of United Association of Equipment Leasing members
who were surprised to learn that Dr. Ray Williams was no longer with
their association. The official announcement, I guesss, came in a
letter to the members, that we re-produced here,
www.leasingnews.org
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