Newtek Business Services, Inc. [NKBS] Chairman & CEO to Ring The NASDAQ Stock Market Opening Bell

Market Wire, December, 2004

What:

Barry Sloane, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Newtek Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: NKBS) will preside over the opening bell.

Where:

NASDAQ MarketSite -- 4 Times Square -- 43rd & Broadway -- Broadcast Studio

When:

Thursday, December 30, 2004 at 9:30 a.m. EST

Why:

The NASDAQ Stock Market is proud to welcome Newtek Business Services, Inc. [NKBS] and its CEO Barry Sloane to the market open in celebration of the company's first year listing anniversary.

Newtek focuses on providing small to medium-sized business owners with business services and financial products that enable them to better grow and compete in today's marketplace. Newtek's products and services include small business lending; electronic merchant payment processing; insurance; web hosting; outsourced digital bookkeeping; tax preparation, filing and advisory; and IT solutions.

Fast Facts:

Headquarters: New York, New York
NASDAQ Listed since December 2003
Ticker symbol: [NKBS]

Feed Information:

The opening bell is available from 9:20 a.m. to 9:35 a.m. on uplink IA-5 C-band/transponder 14. The downlink frequency is 3980 horizontal; audio: 6.2/6.8. The feed can also be found on Waterfront fiber 1623. If you have any questions, please contact the NASDAQ Traffic Department at (646) 441-5220.

Photos:

To obtain a hi-resolution photograph of the Market Open, please go to http://www.nasdaq.com/reference/marketsite_events.stm and click on the market open of your choice.

About Newtek Business Services, Inc. [NKBS]:

Newtek Business Services, Inc. is a premier provider of business services and financial products to the small to medium-sized business market. For more information about Newtek, please visit http://www.newtekbusinessservices.com or call 866-NEW-1-TEK. Newtek's core brands are:

  * Newtek Small Business Finance: small business and U.S.
    government-guaranteed lending services;
  * Newtek Merchant Solutions: electronic merchant payment processing
    solutions;
  * Newtek Insurance Agency: customized business insurance;
  * Newtek IT Services: complete information technology solutions;
  * CrystalTech Web Hosting: comprehensive web site services for small
    and medium sized businesses;
  * Newtek Financial Information Systems: outsourced digital
    bookkeeping; and
  * Newtek Tax Services: tax filing, preparation and advisory services.

The statements in this release may contain forward-looking statements relating to such matters as anticipated future business strategies and financial performance, anticipated future number of customers, business prospects, legislative developments and similar matters. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor for forward-looking statements. In order to comply with the terms of the safe harbor, the Company notes that a variety of factors could cause the Company's or CrystalTech's actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results expressed in the Company's forward-looking statements such as intensified competition and/or operating problems and their impact on revenues and profit margins or additional factors as described in Newtek Business Services' 2003 annual report on Form 10-K and subsequently filed registration statements.

Contacts: Newtek Business Services, Inc. [NKBS]: Newtek Business Services Barry Sloane Chairman of the Board & CEO 212-356-9500 bsloane@newtekbusinessservices.com Dave Gentry Aurelius Consulting Group, Inc. 407-644-4256 dave@aurcg.com NASDAQ MarketSite: Traffic Department 646.441.5220