Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card

Earn 10,000 Starpoints with your first purchase - that's good for up to 3 free nights!
Earn 1 Starpoint for virtually every dollar you spend on the Card and double Starpoints at participating Starwood hotels and resorts
Redeem at over 825 participating Starwood hotels and resorts worldwide with no blackout dates. Starwood hotels include Sheraton®, Westin®, W Hotels®, St. Regis®, Luxury Collection®, Le Meridien®, and Four Points by Sheraton®.
Transfer to over 30 frequent flyer programs, most on a one-to-one basis.
Save on business purchases at companies like FedEx® and Hertz®
Winner of 2006 Freddie Awards: Voted Best Travel Rewards Credit Card by frequent travelers.

ADDITIONAL STARWOOD PREFERRED GUEST BUSINESS CREDIT CARD BENEFITS
Turn Starpoints into miles with over 30 frequent flyer programs3
Complimentary enrollment in the Starwood Preferred Guest program
Fee-free Additional Cards for employees — earn Starpoints on the business purchases they make4

OPEN FROM AMERICAN EXPRESS
OPENSM the small business team at American Express is all about small business. It provides you the resources to help you run your business, including:
Financing
Get unlimited fee-free Additional Cards, 2.9% APR for purchases in the first six months, and pay no annual fee.

Savings
Save at AT&T, FedEx, Hertz®, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM® and more by using your Business Card and see the savings on your statement. No coupons or codes are needed and the savings are in addition to other discounts your business may already receive.5

Online management
Manage your account with Summary of Accounts and track charges with Expense Management Reports.

Community
Chat, pose questions, get insights from other small business owners, and attract new business.

Advice
Ask an expert a question, use an online tool, and read articles by other business owners.
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DID YOU KNOW?

	Refinancing your home can save you money on interest charges while tapping into your home’s equity. However, you can see your savings evaporate through prepayment penalties and other fees if you don’t negotiate favorable terms before signing a contract. While every new mortgage will require some loan processing fees, they should be no more than 6% of your loan. With many lenders, you can get the costs closer to 3%. Request Refinancing Fees When Requesting Quotes When you ask for a “good faith” estimate on refinancing rates, also ask to see information on loan fees. This should include both closing costs and potential future fees. An APR includes both the loan’s interest rate and closing costs. This is helpful when making initial comparisons of lenders. But hidden fees, such as prepayment penalties, can cost you thousands in the future. Before you sign any paperwork, understand what fees are part of the loan. Only Pay Mortgage Lender for Services Rendered With unscrupulous lenders, you may be asked to pay for services not rendered. Your closing costs should be itemized in your loan’s contract. If you have any questions about an item, or when the service was rendered, ask the lender. You should also be wary of writing a check out to a specific person. All funds should be sent to the financial company. The most common loan fees are for such services as lawyers, inspection, title search, and notaries. You can also pay points to lower your interest rate, which may benefit you in certain financial situations. Anticipate Future Prepayment Penalties and other Fees While closing costs are the easiest fees to look for, future fees can also affect your checkbook. For refinance or subprime mortgages, early payment penalties are common. In some cases, this fee is waived after a couple of years. You may also have the option to remove it from the contract by paying a point at closing. Also look at fees for future conversion of your loan. For instance, adjustable rate mortgages can be rolled over to a fixed rate for a fee. If you are planning any future changes with your mortgage, be sure the terms of your loan contract put you in the best position.

The Competition Commission one of the governments watchdogs, has at last moved to shame credit cards in to cutting their charges. The long overdue move comes after the Commission concluded that the credit card industry was overcharging customers between £55 and £100 million each year through excessive interest rates and other charges. And this has been going on for a least 3 years!

The main culprits by far are store cards where interest rates are as high as 30.9% - even though the Bank of England's base rate stands at just 4.5%. The worst culprits were TJ Hughes and the Faith Card followed by Owen & Owen. You can find them heading the Table of Shame shown below in this article.

The commission has also come down on high penalty charges for missed or late payments and Payment Protection Insurance. Average penalty charges are currently £15 per event – but the Commission is also right to argue that these charges are excessive.

As for Payment Protection Insurance, the Commission has joined the consumer body “Which”, the National Consumer Council and indeed the Financial Services Authority in concluding that whilst this insurance can be a good idea, credit card operators have abused it. The Commission has therefore decreed that Payment Protection Insurance must no longer be sold in a combined package with a credit card; it must always be purchased as a separate stand alone transaction. That'll be good news for the Internet where many of the cheapest Payment Protection Insurance deals can be found. With premium savings of up to 60% in comparison with credit card and loan packed arrangements, business on the Internet will flourish.

So what do the new rules from the Competition Commission say? The five main changes are:

• If a credit card charges more than 25% interest, it must carry a prominent warning that there are cheaper ways to borrow. This warnings must be displayed on every monthly statement.

• The interest rate and penalty charges must me clearly displayed on the front page of each monthly statement.

• The monthly statement must warn of the consequences in terms of higher interest charges, of just paying the minimum monthly repayment.

• Credit Cards must offer every customer the option of automatically clearing their monthly balance each month by direct debit. These direct debits would avoid any possibility of interest charges and late payment penalties.

• Credit Card operators must not sell Payment Protection Insurance in a combined package with credit cards. The insurance must be sold as a separate and optional transaction that enable purchasers to see the true cost.

These new rules seem destined to shame retailers into slashing their charges – that's not to say that 25% pa interest is a snip! Main line credit cards issued by banks are currently charging around 14% to 18% and we think that's too high!

Indeed, between 80% and 90% of store cards held by some 11.5 million customers charge more than 25%. But some retailers have jumped the gun realising that their sky-high charges couldn't last forever. Three store cards have already taken steps to trim back. Harvey Nichols has cut their interest from 28.5% to 21.9%, River Island has trimmed down from 29.9% to17.9% and Monsoon from 29.9% to 18.9%.

But who are the bad boys? Here is our Table of Shame:

TJ Hughes 30.9%
Faith Card 30.9%
Owen & Owen 30.7%
Burtons 29.9%
Dorothy Perkins 29.9%
East 29.9%
Evans 29.9%
HMV 29.9%
JD Sports 29.9%
Kwik Fit 29.9%
La Senza 29.9%
Laura Ashley 29.9%
Miss Selfridge 29.9%
Russell & Bromley 29.9%
Ted baker 29.9%
Topshop/Topmam 29.9%
Wallis 29.9%
Warehouse 29.9%
House of Frazer 29.3%
Bhs Gold Card 29.0%
Habitat 29.0%
Oasis 29.0%
Harrods 28.9%
Fenwicks 27.9%
Selfridges 27.6%
Bentalls 27.2%
Jaeger 27.1%
B&Q 26.8%
French Connection 26.8%
Argos 25.9%
Homebase 25.9%
New Look 25.9%

Note: Some of these cards do offer lower interest rates for payment by Direct Debits. Source: Competition Commission/Moneyfacts March 2006

These credit cards are operated by a number of large finance companies, the largest being GE Capital the American giant. The profits are shared between the card operator and the retailer who is often incentivised by being awarded a higher share of the profit if they hit certain key debt thresholds. This has encouraged stores to put immense pressure on shoppers to take cards out.

The Chairman of the House of Commons Treasury Committee, John McFall has accused retailers of putting profit before customers saying “If you buy a suit from one of the stores then you would expect the retailer to ensure that it was well made and reasonably priced. These principles do not seem to apply to their store cards”.

Lets all hope that the action taken by the Competition Committee does the trick!