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"What's Your Story" Contest

Grand Prize: $500. Runner-up Prize: $200, Third Place: $100.

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Investors Become More Accessible to their Target

iBank.com helps its investors create their own personalized webpage

Today, iBank.com, powered by Credentrust Software, has introduced its new landing page program for all investors. This program is targeted to those iBank users without their own personal web page. This new landing page will give these users a chance to be seen by potential small business borrowers and will help investors get their pertinent information out into the World Wide Web.

“This gives the smaller investors a chance to compete with the bigger firms for customers on the internet,” said Peter Gray, Senior Business Development Manager. “We’ve created an avenue for all investors to promote themselves to web-savvy entrepreneurs.”

These new landing pages will help investors by placing their name, address, phone numbers and mission statement on a contact page within iBank.com’s Advanced Capital Search Engine. Capital seeking businesses can review this information, which will give these investors access to more market-share over the internet. The investor won’t have to hassle with the cost of creating a full scale website and any problems or glitches will be handled by Credentrust Software and Globix, the hosting company. This landing page can be created at any time for a one time setup fee of $150 and a $5 a month hosting fee.

“Our Capital Center was launched in October and we want to help our investors and small business owners as much as possible,” said CEO and Chairman Tom Markel. “Creating web pages for our investors is one of the many services we provide for our incoming investors. We are here to help the small business owner succeed in today’s competitive marketplace, which means matching up investors willing to take a chance on small companies. Connecting the two through functional web pages is the answer.”

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Direct Lenders Needed to Fund the Small Businesses of America

Let iBank.com help you find small business owners looking for loans

iBank.com continues to be the fastest growing Commercial Loan/Lease search engine in North America, and with this it creates a necessity to bring on more direct lenders, to handle the large increase of small business online loan applications. Everyday iBank.com generates more and more leads for direct lenders that specialize in the small business loans, leasing and commercial markets.      

     ““In addition to helping small businesses find insurance and investors, iBank.com is also dedicated to helping small business owners find funding sources,” said Erik Hamilton, Senior Business Development Manager-Lenders. “Direct lenders find fully automated, streamlined and standardized process applications on our website.”

     Small business owners that need direct lending sources have overwhelmingly turned to iBank.com. The number of small business loans outstanding under $100,000 increased 25 percent between June 2004 and June 2005, according to a report released by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. These small businesses have resorted to using credit cards to survive.

    “Access to credit is vital for small business survival,” said Dr. Chad Moutray, Chief Economist for the Office of Advocacy. “That is why we produce our annual lending report, so that trends in small business finance are made clear. One evident trend is the increase in the number of micro business loans outstanding. Coupling that increase with the small increase in the dollar amount outstanding of those loans shows that the small business credit card market continues to be quite dynamic.”

These numbers prove that small business owners need access to funding for various reasons and that’s why iBank.com was created. Small business borrowers have the convenience and protection of using iBank.com’s online secured Vault, where they’re able to retain the data from their application while also having it available to the lender. Lenders see real time deal flow on their desktop or they have the option of getting the iBank reader which will contact them immediately when they have a qualified small business borrower.

“One of the more important features that iBank provides to its lenders is the ability to screen the applications,” said Hamilton.  “Whether a lender is looking for A paper or borrowers who have been turned down, who they see is determined by the lender.”

There are many advantages for direct lenders that use iBank.com’s real time lead flow. The first is the online process management system which saves time, money and is extremely convenient. Next lenders can manage client data by collecting, transporting and retaining information, all in one place. Lenders and borrowers have 24/7 access to their online applications which is a 21^st century business tool.

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Why Not Lease?

Leasing Medical Equipment Can Prove to be a Financially Smart Move

Thousands of medical professionals have discovered the financially smart way to provide their clinic, hospital and other care facilities with medical equipment. When professionals purchase equipment especially medical equipment that has lives depending on them, they tend to buy top of the line equipment. But there is a problem in this process. The problem is with the rapid advancement in technology, no one professional can ever own the most up to date technology.

The medical field requires there to be a rapid turn-over rate when it comes to equipment. Today’s advancements are tomorrow’s grandfather technologies. So how does a company or professional assure they have a fast turn-over rate when it comes to equipment? Equipment leasing, allows professionals and companies to lease equipment without the subconscious thought that they are now stuck with a certain product. Leasing gives the lessee the flexibility to upgrade, add-on, or trade in old equipment.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, eight out of 10 American companies lease all or some of their productivity equipment. Opting to lease medical equipment reduces the cost for equipment maintenance, installation and equipment training because most leasing companies provide the leasor with both. Some leasing companies also provide programs that allow you to return, buy at a discount, or even upgrade your equipment at the end of your lease. Tax breaks are also included when professionals decide to lease. Leasing allows companies to see dollar for dollar write off on leasing payments which has a higher profitability when compare to owning equipment. When equipment is devalued due to new technology, a loan borrower bears all the risk. Since a lessee has no obligations to own equipment at the end of a lease, all risk of obsolescence is transferred to the leasors.

So that leaves the question: Once you have decided which leasing company to go with, how are you going to attain funding for the lease? Using iBank.com’s Finance Center, companies and professionals can in minutes apply and connect to eager lenders. iBank.com’s advanced filtering system allows medical professionals to apply for different types of leases targeted to fit their needs.

“Medical professionals need to keep their options open when it comes to equipment, leasing is one of their best bets.” said Tom Markel CEO of iBank.com “With the high turn-over rate of technology, iBank.com wants to make sure medical professionals don’t get stuck with obsolete machinery simply because they cannot find funding.”

There is also a high benefit for equipment manufacturers, distributors, vendors and value-added resellers that use iBank.com Finance Center. The Finance Center's application process helps stimulate sales by providing equipment financing for their products. In offering their customers a total equipment acquisition solution, vendors are able to differentiate themselves from their competition, increase sales, reduce outstanding receivables, and decrease the sales cycle by eliminating the need for the customer to search for additional financing.

Equipment leasing is a clear, smart choice for medical companies and professionals. The leasing industry is a major source of funds for capital investment. In 1998, more than $207 billion worth of equipment was leased nationwide, this trend is increasing. Leasing has gained in popularity due to key factors that differentiate a lease from a loan. Every year a growing number of companies choose to procure new productive equipment through leases rather than loans.

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Hundreds of Untapped Investor Leads Found at iBank.com

Capital, venture and angel investors have free reign with small business leads found at iBank.com

Thousands of small business owners have registered at iBank.com’s Capital Center to find venture, angel, and private investors for their company. Since the Capital Center’s inception in early October 2006, registrations have increased 100% per month. Investors have a variety of businesses to choose from which will match their specific guidelines.

“The number of businesses coming to iBank’s Capital Center to find investments is beyond what we ever imagined,” said Peter Gray, Credentrust Software Senior Business Development Manager. “This is a wonderful opportunity for all types of investors to join our network, and connect with investment prospects from all over the world in our real-time web-based system.”

Pooling all the resources of iBank.com’s Capital Center, investors have the opportunity to eliminate wasted time in the funding process by using better prescreening techniques. In today’s marketplace, businesses have to connect quickly with financing, so they can concentrate on growing or improving their business.

With iBank.com’s proprietary online secure vault, a business can create, upload and store their entire business file cabinet of information online. The business then chooses te application type within the vault, data from the vault will pre-fill all the necessary information needed to build a professional Digital Investment Package (DIP). The interested investors can then log on to the applicants vault and review the materials.

This process is simple and makes choosing the right small business effortless for the investors.

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Banks & Property Owners Help Businesses Find Quality Tenants

Credentrust Software processes credit applications seamlessly, online and in real time, to speed the process of filling vacancies and finding new franchisees

Credentrust Software, started in 1997 by Tom Markel, has steadily increased as a leader in tenant screening. Credentrust uses the Customer Application Management System (CAM), which is a workflow collaboration tool that processes customer credit applications, such as new customer account, tenant, franchise and loan applications. This system integrates with credit bureaus for a one button retrieval of credit reports, reduces the cost of processing new customers and makes faster and better decisions with more information for owners.

“Helping the small business owner process tenant applications is the goal of TenantSuite,” said Tom Markel, CEO of Credentrust Software. “Making the tenant screening process as easy and hassle free as possible while trying to phase out paper applications is why we created TenantSuite.”

CB Richard Ellis is the largest commercial real estate services firm in the world with nearly 10,000 employees in more than 250 offices spread across 47 countries. Their property management business currently manages more than 600 million square feet for property owners. CB uses the TenantSuite version of Credentrust CAM to process tenant applications for commercial office space in the 1300+ buildings they manage across the US. They are currently phasing out paper applications completely, mandating that all properties accept only online tenant applications submitted via Credentrust CAM TenantSuite. Credentrust provides a single solution used by all property managers throughout the country, ensuring uniform procedures and costs no matter where the property is located. It also allows executives at CB's headquarters in Los Angeles to monitor tenant application volume and progress across all of their properties without requiring property managers to manually prepare daily (or even weekly) reports.           

SYSCO Food Corporation is committed to helping foodservice providers succeed in the foodservice industry, which is why SYSCO uses Credentrust to process its new account applications, extend trade credit and assist in the capital needs of its 415,000 customers worldwide. SYSCO is the largest foodservice distributor to the restaurant and hospitality industries in the country with $25 billion in revenue, more than 415,000 customers, and over 47,000 employees in 146 locations throughout North America. SYSCO uses Credentrust to virtually eliminate paper, faxes, copy costs and postage charges in the processing of their new customer and trade credit applications. Moreover, the online application and features such as integrated credit reports totally eliminate data re-entry, which is costly, time-consuming and mistake-prone.

Credentrust hosts and manages the system for each of these companies so there is no software to buy and maintain. The system can be customized to meet the needs of each individual company, even if those needs change regularly. Credentrust implements the system quickly with a focus on customer satisfaction. Franchisee applications are broad applications that require the prospective franchisee to disclose a significant amount of information about their personal life and business experience. Because franchising is a of dollars, the franchise company must carefully process their application to ensure that the franchisee is a good fit and has the abilities to be a successful long-term partnership and franchisees often invest hundreds of thousands and even millions franchisee. Credentrust CAM FranchiseSuite manages the processing of franchisee applications, including pulling credit reports, verifying references and preparing franchise documents. What was originally a loosely organized, paper-based process is now a paperless, standardized procedure. Credentrust's integrated and customizable workflow and collaboration features ensure each franchisee application is processed correctly and as quickly as possible. Each customer creates their own secure Vault (or admin users can create it for them). Customers can use their Vault to store and organize business information that can be accessed anywhere at any time. It also seamlessly integrates with the Credentrust Finance Center for customers to quickly complete loan applications.

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