"MAIN STREET" BLACK FRIDAY SALES UP, CREDIT CARD USAGE DOWN

Capital Access Network's Survey of Main Street Merchants Shows Increase in Overall Sales, While Consumers Credit Card Use Declines

New York (Dec. 3, 2010) - Approximately 40% of "Main Street" merchants reported an overall increase in sales during the 2010 Black Friday period* as compared to 2009, according to a survey of small, brick and mortar retail businesses conducted by Capital Access Network, Inc. (CAN). Only 24% of the survey respondents reported declining overall sales volumes. CAN's Data Services Division also released figures showing that while Main Street was experiencing increases in overall purchasing activity this Black Friday period, consumers were using credit cards and signature based debit cards at lower rates than a year earlier. Same store card sales fell 1% from the same period a year ago. The findings were released in the "Black Friday on Main Street" special issue of CAN's Small Business Credit Sales (SBCS) Report.

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS:

1. While sales figures released for the 2010 Black Friday period tend to show increases in overall purchasing activity compared to the same period in 2009, purchases made using credit and signature debit cards at U.S. Main Street small businesses declined 1%.


2. Same store card sales of Merchandise Retailers (such as jewelers, boutiques, toy stores, clothing stores, electronics retailers, sporting goods stores, gift shops, etc.) declined more than the total group of Main Street businesses with a 2% dip in 2010 as compared to the 2009 Black Friday period.


3. Restaurants as a group showed gains during the 2010 Black Friday period; with a 1% lift in card sales as compared to the same period in 2009.
   
   Spotlight: Restaurants with an average ticket size of less than $25 experienced larger Black Friday period card sales increases than those with average tickets greater than $25. Comparing the 2009 Black Friday period to the same period in 2010, restaurants with an average ticket size of $25 or less saw same store card sales increase by 4% and restaurants with an average ticket size greater than $25 experienced an almost 1% increase in card sales.


4. Approximately 40% of Main Street merchants surveyed by CAN reported increased overall sales for the 2010 Black Friday period compared to 2009. 36% of the respondents reported their sales were flat on a year-over-year basis, while the remaining 24% reported their sales were lower.

"The data continues to get more interesting," said Glenn Goldman, CEO of Capital Access Network. "On the one hand, we have better reported sales figures, which correlate with the performance of our subsidiaries' portfolios, as well as the Commerce Department's recently reported declines in personal savings ratesⁱ ," said Goldman. "On the other hand, we have reduced credit card spend figures which track with the Federal Reserve reported declines in revolving consumer credit availableⁱⁱ."

"Consumers seem to be ready to spend more, but are using cash and PIN debit cards to do it. They seem reluctant to reverse the de-leveraging they have been engaged in since the Great Recession began in 2008," he said.

A copy of the Black Friday on Main Street SBCS Report can be viewed at http://www.capitalaccessnetwork.com/sbcsreport.html

* Black Friday period defined as the Friday through Sunday after Thanksgiving, November 26-28, 2010.
** Survey conducted on November 30, 2010.

About the CAN Small Business Credit Sales ReportThe Small Business Credit Sales (SBCS) Report is a quarterly report highlighting credit and debit card sales trends within small to mid-sized businesses nationwide. Sponsored by the Data Services Division of Capital Access Network, Inc. (CAN), a New York-based financial technology company, the SBCS Report features analysis of credit and debit card sales trends based on same store card sales data housed in CAN's data warehouses, which retain 12 years of data and include more than 50,000 businesses. Most same store sales retail reports focus on or include data from big-box retail and nationwide/regional department stores, either ignoring or obscuring the trends of the majority of small and mid-sized businesses. The SBCS Report was designed to assist business owners, the processing industry, associations, analysts and media interested in tracking and benchmarking credit and debit card sales trends among small and mid-sized businesses. Data published may include:

• Average Same Store Credit Sales - Overall
• Average Same Store Credit Sales - by Population Size
• Average Same Store Credit Sales - by Industry and Ticket Size
• Average Same Store Credit Sales - by Geographic Region
• Average Same Store Credit Sales - by Time in Business

To receive the quarterly reports automatically via email, interested parties can sign up at http://www.capitalaccessnetwork.com/sbcsreport.html, or simply send an email to dnaczi@CapitalAccessNetwork.com.

About Capital Access Network, Inc.
Capital Access Network, Inc. (CAN) leverages leading edge data, systems and technology, combined with a unique and highly effective Daily Remittance PlatformTM, to deliver innovative financial products and services geared to small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) and SMB capital providers. The Financial Technologies Group (FinTech Group) offers SMB lenders, credit card issuers and other capital providers customized platforms and hosted services that enable Daily Remittance-powered financial products, improving underwriting decisioning and delivery, extending customer lifecycles, controlling costs and enhancing portfolio performance. The Data Services Division draws upon the data gathered by CAN's subsidiaries through more than a decade of collecting and analyzing the sales trends and firmographics of tens of thousands of SMBs. CAN also provides merchant capital options powered by Daily Remittance PlatformsTM through its wholly-owned subsidiaries: AdvanceMe, Inc, the leader in Merchant Cash Advances, and NewLogic Business Loans, Inc. Headquartered in New York since 1998, CAN and its subsidiaries currently employ 350 people in four locations in New York, Georgia, Massachusetts and Costa Rica. Learn more at www.CapitalAccessNetwork.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Carrie Crabill
Trevelino/Keller Communications Group
404-214-0722 x102
ccrabill@trevelinokeller.com

ⁱ Commerce Department, Bureau of Economic Analysis: Personal Saving Rate; October 29, 2010.
ⁱⁱ Federal Reserve Statistical Release G.19 Consumer Credit.