NEW YORK, March 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Newtek Business Services, Inc. NASDAQ: NEWT, The Small Business Authority^®, today announced that it has surpassed 500,000 client referrals through its state-of-the-art proprietary web-based technology, NewTracker^®, since the in-house development of this technology platform began in 2003 and became fully operational in 2006.

NewTracker^® is an integral component of the Company's business model, which enables it to acquire customers and process their business in a cost-effective manner lessening the dependency on traditional more inefficient client acquisition strategies that are commonly used to acquire independent business owner clientele.  Alliance and referral partners use this technology to refer their independent business clientele to Newtek to offer them the products and services they cannot or do not care to provide.  NewTracker^® gives these referral and alliance partners full transparency into Newtek's back office and allows them to track the progress of their own business referrals through the entire sales and marketing process.  The Company likens the transparency and tracking capability of this platform to putting a barcode on the business service process, similar to what delivery, transportation and logistics-services companies do for packages.  NewTracker^®, a unique business-to-business technology services application, is trademarked and has been granted a patent from the U.S. Patent Office.

Barry Sloane, Newtek's President, Chairman and CEO, commented, "For almost a decade, we have been utilizing NewTracker^®_, our patented proprietary state-of-the-art web-based technology, as the primary tool to acquire small- and medium-sized, and independent business owners as clients throughout all 50 states.  We believe this technology gives us a competitive advantage over our industry peers as it eliminates total dependency on human capital, which is utilized by other companies to acquire small- and medium-sized business clients.  We are able to significantly leverage human capital using the NewTracker^® system.  NewTracker^® enables us to book and bind clients from our remote business process centers in Phoenix, AZ; West Allis, WI; Brownsville, TX; and West Hempstead, NY.  As a FinTech Company, our ability to acquire these clients in such a manner is one of the keys to our success and a vast contributor to our ability to scale and potentially expand our margins through inherent cross-selling and cross-marketing opportunities within our current client referral database of over 500,000.  Our alliance partners appreciate the transparency NewTracker^® provides, giving them the ability to track the progress of their leads 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as their referrals flow through our operation centers."

Mr. Sloane, concluded, "Our front-end and back-end systems and operational methodology have been specifically designed to cater to the most important economic force in the U.S. economy - the independent business owner.  We are thrilled that NewTracker^® has provided service and information to hundreds of thousands referral clients that are now part of our database."

About Newtek Business Services, Inc.

Newtek Business Services, Inc., The Small Business Authority^®, is a direct distributor of a wide range of business services and financial products to the small- and medium-sized business market under the Newtek brand including:

• The Newtek Advantage^™: Mobile real-time operating platform for business intelligence. The Newtek Advantage^™ puts all critical business transactions in real-time. Access data on your smartphone, tablet, laptop or PC as it relates to eCommerce for credit/ debit transactions, website statistics, payroll, insurance and business loans.
• Electronic Payment Processing: eCommerce, electronic solutions to accept non-cash payments, including credit and debit cards, check conversion, remote deposit capture, ACH processing, and electronic gift and loyalty card programs.
• Managed Technology Solutions (Cloud Computing): Full-service web host, which offers eCommerce solutions, shared and dedicated web hosting and related services including domain registration and online shopping cart tools.
• eCommerce:  A suite of services that enable small businesses to get up and running on-line quickly and cost effectively, with integrated web design, payment processing and shopping cart services.
• Business Lending: Broad array of lending products including SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 loans through our lending subsidiary, Newtek Small Business Finance, Inc.    
• Insurance Services: Commercial and personal lines of insurance, including health and employee benefits in all 50 states, working with over 40 insurance carriers.
• Web Services: Customized web design and development services.
• Data Backup, Storage and Retrieval: Fast, secure, off-site data backup, storage and retrieval designed to meet the specific regulatory and compliance needs of any business.
• Accounts Receivable Financing: Receivable purchasing and financing services.
• Payroll: Complete payroll management and processing services. 

Newtek provides its services to over 100,000 business accounts and has positioned the Newtek brand as a one-stop-shop provider of such business services. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, there are over 27.5 million small businesses in the United States, which in total represent 99.7% of all employer firms.

The Small Business Authority^® is a registered trade mark of Newtek Business Services, Inc., and neither are a part of or endorsed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this press release including statements regarding Newtek's beliefs, expectations, intentions or strategies for the future, may be "forward-looking statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, intensified competition, operating problems and their impact on revenues and profit margins, anticipated future business strategies and financial performance, anticipated future number of customers, business prospects, legislative developments and similar matters. Risk factors, cautionary statements and other conditions, which could cause Newtek's actual results to differ from management's current expectations, are contained in Newtek's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available through http://www.sec.gov.

Contact: Simrita Singh
Telephone: (212) 356-9566 / ssingh@thesba.com 
Investor Relations
Contact: Jayne Cavuoto
Telephone: (212) 273-8179 / jcavuoto@thesba.com 
Contact: Brett Maas
Telephone: (646) 536-7331 / brett@haydenir.com

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SOURCE Newtek Business Services, Inc.