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17, 2000 Los Angeles Times May 10, 2000 story by Times Staff Writer E. Scott Reckard notes over fifty Better Bureau Business Complaints against American Capital, and in the second paragraph: " The company, part of a vast, but little scrutinized national industry, said it handled more than 5,000 applications for leases last year--ten times as many as in 1995, its first year of operation. " But Orange-based American Capital also faces increasing allegations that it delays action on requests for leases, tried to change terms midstream, and won't return hefty deposits when deals don't shape up as envisions." In the Los Angeles Times news story, the Better Business Bureau lists 47 complaints against American Capital ( although it notes most were resolved, except for two, four more disputed, and five more pending )..."And American Capital has been sued more than two dozen times in state courts, a check of records shows. Most are small-claims actions over unreturned credits." In the story, the company's chief executive Carl J.Heaton "...defends the practice of charging hundreds of dollars to thousands of dollars in non refundable up front fees." The newspaper story quotes him, saying, " In the last five years we've processed 15,000 lease applications," Heaton said. " We feel that under 50 complaints ( to the bureau ) is not that bad." ( I could not locate the story in the archives of the newspaper. The original came by fax copy of the article--editor ) "Business Services" New Internet Leasing Company for ISP's and Their Customers: Press
Release: ( for full story, see bottom of Lease News ) Nashville, Tennessee along with Lyon Financial Services ( Manifest Leasing is one of their companies, this is their Synergy Resource Division ) launches Internet Leasing Division for Banks across the United States: Press
Release: --for the full story, see News Release reproduced at bottom Comment from Brian w/ LeaseSource:: The great slowdown in "Generalist" lease business. I think that the melt down began with the stock market crash on or about March 15th. We have lots of apps, but the credit worthiness is bad to worse. This usually happens when the economy puts on the breaks. We also had tax time and other variables in April to deal with concurrently. It will pick back up. Before the summer doldrums I hope. Brian w/ LeaseSource. ---------------------------------- Kit-- We are seeing a lot of really terrible credit...and what our brokers do get approved, they can't seem to sign. Very frustrating The funding ratio is way down. This has been a trend since the beginning of the year. I have heard this from my competitors, too. ( name withheld by request ) ----------------------- Dear Kit, Thanks for the space in your newsletter. One slight correction, however. The words "computerization" and "communalization" should be "commoditization" referring to the fact that the internet portal sites are banking on the fact that the small ticket lease will become a commodity, like credit cards.
Bob Rodi ---------------------- Kit, I applaud Phil as well. Phil, and I worked together for many years before we started LeaseTeam together in 1989. I have never met a better sales person. Phil, combines all the attributes that create success in any field, software or equipment lease financing. Professional, hard working, honest, integrity, very competitive, and understands how to use technology to his advantage, and a great relationship creator and builder. In essence he has all the tools to be successful in whatever he does. There aren't many better than Phil out there.
Randy Haug ---------------------- Bob Rodi also has asked us to print his e-mail to clarify any comments he may have made between his product, LeaseNow software, and Capital Stream: Dear Kit, In response to the John Kruse's e-mail I will state publicly that I did review Capital Stream with John, Hal Hayden and several of the Capital Stream staff members and I was quite impressed with the product. After seeing it I can honestly state that I do not believe that Capital Stream is going into the funding business. They have created an excellent tool that could serve the broker/lessor who finds that they need to make a move toward automation. There are also a lot of operational similarities between Capital Stream and LeaseNOW 2000. John is right in stating that their application is totally web based while ours is still more oriented to the desk top with web based tools included and available, if necessary. We are web enabling LeaseNOW 2000 so that it will be totally integrated with the desk top version of our software. John has explained to me that Capital Stream can be "private labeled" if necessary, and that they are willing to work with us to use what LeaseNOW has already developed. For us this will become a question of cost and whether or not it is less expensive to do it in-house or contract with Capital Stream. This is, however, a unique situation because we are equipped with the resources to develop our own applications so we have this choice. Anyone who is not in this situation should give Capital Stream a serious look. I would close by saying that I do not think that Capital Stream would extend the offer to work with my programmers on an integration project if they intended to fund transactions themselves. To draw a sports analogy that would almost amount to giving your opponent your play book. Thanks
Ubrandit.com Signs Multi-Year Branded Internet Service Provider --ISP-- Agreements with eJump-Start.com and MoneyShop.com SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2000--Ubrandit.com(TM) (AMEX:UBI), a leading business-to-business provider of branded Internet solutions, Tuesday announced that MoneyShop.com and eJump-Start.com have entered into multi-year agreements with the company. Under the agreements, Ubrandit ISP will create a custom individualized branded ISP for each company to market to their customer base. Under the agreements, Ubrandit.com will provide a turnkey program that includes the custom design, administration, customer service, and maintenance of each company's branded ISP. San Diego-based eJump-Start.com is dedicated to providing turnkey eCommerce solutions to small businesses. Additionally, eJump-Start.com provides computer equipment leasing services for small to medium sized businesses. MoneyShop.com Inc., based in Boise, Idaho, is a provider of financial services and products to customers in the "sub-prime" market. Their products include various mortgage lending programs, credit repair, and electronic banking services. Under Ubrandit.com's branded ISP program, businesses and affinity groups have immediate entry into the Internet access business arena via their own "custom brands" and have the opportunity to generate ongoing revenue. For an initial, one-time base setup fee of $12,000, clients are able to offer both dialup and broadband Internet access services to their customer base via their own brand name and identity with no mention of Ubrandit.com. Ubrandit.com charges a fee as low as $11.95 per month depending on volume of subscribers. The client can markup the monthly service amount charged to the end customer to any amount they believe is competitive in their market. Ubrandit.com requires reimbursement for the wholesale service cost only enabling the client to earn ongoing monthly commissions on the services provided to the end consumer. James Holden, director of Business Development at Ubrandit.com, stated, "We are pleased with the response that the Ubrandit ISP program is receiving and are excited to be working with MoneyShop.com and eJump-Start.com in expanding their product and service bases to include Internet access services along with the many other features included in the branded ISP Portal program. The ISP program is highly customizable and extremely versatile. The types of companies that can benefit from the program include media groups, radio stations, magazine publications, universities, and virtually any business, affinity group, or non-profit group with a well-defined customer base." Robert Schliff, executive vice president at eJump-Start.com, remarked, "We are extremely excited that our customers will now be able to purchase Internet access services directly through eJump-Start.com. Ubrandit.com's ISP program significantly increases our level of communication with our customer base and provides us with an excellent opportunity to generate non-traditional revenue. The eJump-Start.com Web site will now become the Internet startup page for our ISP customers meaning additional opportunities to market our products and services to online consumers." The ISP program includes a branded Portal site, which is customized to reflect the unique brand and identity of the client. The branded Portal can include Ubrandit.com's two other branded programs: JungleJeff.com, an eCommerce component featuring more than one million book, music, video, and DVD titles and StockStudy.com, a financial information component featuring financial data and portfolio management services. Clients have an opportunity to earn a commission on all items purchased via their branded JungleJeff.com store. In addition, the client's Portal site becomes the Internet startup page for customers that sign up for Internet access services via the client's branded signup CD-ROMs. This feature enables the client to further extend their brand online (and promote their products and services) through increased page views. Ubrandit.com's expanding ISP network is comprised of more than 2,200 unique POP's (Point of Presence Internet Access Locations) providing Internet access to more than 5,000 U.S. and Canadian cities. Ubrandit.com is currently expanding its marketing and sales force to accommodate the recent releases of its branded ISP, eCommerce, and financial information programs. Potential clients can sign up for all of the company's branded programs via Ubrandit.com's corporate Web site at www.ubrandit.com. About Ubrandit.com Ubrandit.com is a business-to-business Internet company uniquely positioned to capitalize, through "branding," on the expanding eCommerce, ISP (Internet Service Provider), and online Financial Information Internet business sectors. To service these Internet growth arenas, the company is developing three core, turnkey products: JungleJeff.com(TM), Ubrandit ISP(TM), and StockStudy.com(TM). The company recently launched its Branding Affiliate program for JungleJeff.com, a one million-plus title e-commerce site for music, books, videos, and DVDs. The company's branded Internet Service Provider program, Ubrandit ISP, is currently in beta testing via the BigRamp.com model. The company is also beta testing its primary financial information site, StockStudy.com, via the Branding Affiliate program. The company's products and services are designed to provide quality, customer-retention-based applications to the Web sites of its Branding Affiliates along with the opportunity to earn ongoing, commission-based revenues. The company's corporate Web site is located at www.ubrandit.com. To receive Ubrandit.com press releases via e-mail, register at: http://www.ubrandit.com/corporate/index.asp?cat=corporate This press release contains certain forward looking statements regarding the future plans and expected performance based on assumptions the company believes to be reasonable. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements, including, without limitation, the timeliness of development activities, as well as other risk factors described from time to time by company documents and reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: Ubrandit.com Private Business, Inc. Announces Equipment Leasing Alliance With Synergy Resources; Comprehensive Business Manager Leasing Program Ideal for Community Banks NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 17, 2000--Private Business, Inc. (NASDAQ:PBIZ), the nation's leading provider of technology-driven solutions that help banks manage accounts receivable financing of small businesses, announced today the formation of a strategic alliance with Synergy Resources, a national leader in private-label, small-ticket leasing programs. The two companies have entered into an agreement to provide small-ticket leasing services to banks under the product name "Business Manager Leasing." The Business Manager Leasing(TM) program will be marketed to Private Business, Inc.'s nationwide network of more than 1,200 community bank partners, and will, in turn, be made available to those banks' commercial customers. The program will also be marketed to businesses via the company's direct sales force of 140 people across the United States, as well as through its BusinessManager.com business-to-business Internet portal. "We are very excited to announce this strategic alliance with Synergy Resources," said Kevin McNamara, Chief Executive Officer of Private Business, Inc. "This alliance provides our banking partners with a very effective turn-key leasing program that will enable them to better serve their small business customers. Synergy Resources' reputation for providing valuable products and services which focus on retaining, strengthening, and growing their bank partners' business banking relationships makes us very happy to choose them as our leasing partner for Business Manager Leasing." "The alliance with Private Business, Inc. is a good one for us, since their bank partners and prospects are already open to a wide array of lending solutions for banking commercial customers," said Harold Orcutt, Executive Vice President of Synergy Resources. "Our program is uniquely designed for banks that want to provide equipment leasing to their commercial customers, yet don't have the infrastructure to support it. By offering the Business Manager Leasing product, the bank can increase retention of business customers through the delivery of a true value-added product - leasing - that their commercial customers want and need." Under the terms of the alliance, Private Business, Inc. will manage the bank relationships, while Synergy Resources will manage the remaining aspects of the Business Manager Leasing program, including end-user marketing, underwriting, documentation, lease administration and equipment remarketing. About Synergy Resources Synergy Resources, a division of Lyon Financial Services, is backed by Schwan's Sales Enterprises, one of the nation's largest privately held companies. Included in both Fortune and Forbes' recent annual lists of the largest privately held companies in the United States, Schwan's and Synergy Resources offer customers more than 20 years of small-ticket leasing experience. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Synergy Resources specializes in lease outsourcing for the banking industry. The company offers lease financing for over 500 industries, from computers and fax machines to office furniture, telecommunications and industrial equipment. About Private Business, Inc. Private Business, Inc., based in Brentwood, Tennessee, is the nation's leading provider of technology-driven solutions that help banks manage accounts receivable funding of small businesses. The company's principal product, the Business Manager(R) accounts receivable program, is based on software, marketing services, and online electronic transaction processing provided through a client network of more than 1,200 banks nationwide. This Internet-based e-commerce solution provides cash flow to thousands of small businesses across the U.S. by enabling them to sell their receivables to their community bank. All businesses utilizing the company's Business Manager accounts receivable electronic commerce solution go through www.BusinessManager.com, the company's business-to-business Internet portal, to conduct daily transactions. For more information, please visit www.privatebusiness.com. This release contains several "forward-looking statements" concerning Private Business, Inc.'s operations, prospects, strategies and financial condition, including its future economic performance, intent, plans and objectives, and the likelihood of success in developing and expanding its business. These statements are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that are subject to significant uncertainties, many of which are beyond Private Business, Inc.'s control. Words such as "may," "would," "could," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "plan," and "estimate" are meant to identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are discussed in Private Business, Inc.'s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its registration statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-75013) as declared effective on May 26, 1999, and include, among other factors, the timely development and market acceptance of products and technologies and competitive market conditions. CONTACT:
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