MyCardBlog

Just before Christmas Eve I received an email from one of my readers who wanted to make sure that the American Express Simply Cash Business Card is a nice card and worth a hard inquiry. My reply was very simple—“This is one of my dream cards. You certainly should apply for this card! ”

According to the terms and conditions, you can:

Earn 5% Cash Back on gas, office supplies, and wireless services (3% from July 1, 2008)

Earn 1% Cash Back on virtually all other purchases

No limits to the Cash Back

you can earn 0% introductory APR on purchases for the first 12 months

Rebate will be awarded into your monthly statement every month
No annual fee

And here is a list of merchants which are in the above mentioned 5% category.

Office supplies: Staples, Office Depot, OfficeMax.

Wireless services: T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, Alltel, etc

Gas stations: Shell, Mobil, Chevron, Hess, WaWa, Valero, BP, etc (Note: Wal-Mart, Meijier and other gas stations will not be included in 5% category.)

Here is the simple cash rebate estimator, and you can calculate how much cash back you can get from this card every month. Mine is about $12 every month.

One of my friends told me that he was trying to close the American Express business gold rewards card and was convinced to convert that card to this card. He said he was happy that they can do this. The only draw back is you can’t get sign-up bonus from this card. I remember that lots of friends jumped in the Business Gold Rewards card before Oct. 15, 2007. Because they will charge a $125 annual fee on that card, you might want to convert that card to this one. I can’t guarantee you can convert another business card to this card. But, at least, you can call them up and request them to do so.

How can you apply for a business card without a real business?

If you don’t have a business and want to apply for a business card for personal use, you can put Solo Proprietorship as the business type and your name as the busines title. You can use your personal SSN as ITIN. You can put $0 revenue and 0 years in business. It won’t affect your chance to get a business card (as a start up company). The credit card issuers will pull your personal credit report.

Some friends sent me several emails and asked me which card is currently the best from American Express. Well, from my point of view, the best credit card from American Express is Starwood Preferred Guest Card. I have a post about this card. I also put this card as one of my favorite rewards cards. At the same time, it’s a must to have an American Express card to buy electronics like laptops, HDTVs and so on, just because of the best extended warranty provided by American Express.

There are many reasons to rate Starwood Preferred Guest Card as the best American Express card.

First of all, the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Card is offering 10,000 bonus points. You can earn 1 point per $1 spent on the card. Along with the new card, you will get a Starwood Preferred Guest 50%-off Award coupon which can be redeemed at any participating Starwood hotel or resort worldwide. Currently, this card also gives you an additional 15,000 points if you can spend $15,000 in 6 months.

Excellent rewards program is the other reason making this card perfect. You can redeem the Starwood points as gift cards. For example, you can use 9,500 points to redeem a $100 Amazon.com/GAP/Banana Republic/Starbuck gift card. Or you can use 3,500 points to redeem a $50 off coupon at Avis.com. You can also use those points to redeem free night stays at Starwood hotels. You can start to redeem a free weekend night by using 2,000 points. For example, a weekend night at Chicago Four Points by Sheraton Fairview Heights will cost you 2,000 Starwood points (3,000 points for weekdays). However, it will cost you about $120.00 if you want to pay the room with credit card or cash. So the cash back is equal to 6% (4% for weekdays). You will also automatically get Gold Starwood status with this card, which will give you room upgrade choice. (Choose the cheapest room, and then upgrade at check-in.) It’s a nice choice if you travel a lot.

Another feature of Starwood point is you can convert Starwood points to frequent flier miles on a 1:1 basis plus bonus miles. For example, if you want to convert 20,000 Starwood points to AA miles, you can get 25,000 miles. In this way, you can earn 25% more miles than other miles cards. Not to mention the annul fee of this card is less than other miles cards. Please don’t transfer Starwood points to US miles (on a 2:1 basis).

There is also a business version of this card—AMEX Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card, which is also offering 10,000 bonus points. If you can get both cards, then you will get 20,000 Starwood points. The 20,000 Starwood points can get you 25,000 miles which are enough for a free domestic ticket. As a mentioned before, everyone can apply for a business card.

The title says it and it’s true. “Which is the best credit card for college students?” This the most frequently asked question from my friends. My answer is always “Citi mtvU Platinum Select Visa Card”. The reason is very simple—it’s just the best.

When we are using a credit card, we want to get a certain amount of cashback and some additional benefits. So what are the top categories of expenses in college? Dinning out, textbooks and other entertainments. That’s why this card is so popular among college students. You can get 5 thankyou points for every dollar you spent at restaurants, bookstores, video stores and movie theaters. Plus you can also get 5 thankyou points for shopping at Amazon.com—earth’s biggest merchant with a wide selection of books, magazines, music, DVDs, videos, electronics, computers, software, apparel & accessories, shoes, etc. Accumulated thankyou points can be redeemed as gift cards or cash at thankyou.com.

Another interesting feature of this card is you will be awarded for being a good student. You can earn 250~2,000 bonus thankyou points each semester for maintaining a good GPA. (Of course, you have to mail official transcript to them.) Furthermore, you can get 25 bonus points each month for paying the bill on time!

With Citi virtual account numbers integrated in this card, your online shopping will be protected.

Overall, this card features:

• 0% APR* on Purchases and Balance Transfers for 6 months if you qualify based on your application and credit history*
• Earn 5 ThankYou Points® for every dollar you spend at restaurants, bookstores, record stores, movie theaters and video rentals stores.
• Earn 1 ThankYou Point for every dollar you spend on all other purchases.
• Earn 25 ThankYou Points every month when you pay on time and don’t go over your credit limit.
• Earn up to 2000 ThankYou Points twice a year for having a good GPA.
• Redeem points for gift cards, travel, electronics, music and more.
• No Annual Fee

I will apply for this card in the near future. Usually I eat out at restaurants at least 10 times every week. I can’t imagine how much I can save if I use this card. (Currently, I’m using 2% cash back card at restaurants.) Remember, if you apply for this card, they may need you to provide proofs or they will contact your college. Don’t expect to get an instant approval. For those who don’t familiar with ThankYou points, you can visit www.thankyou.com. To apply for this card, please click here.

I have a post about credit cards with $100 bonus (see here). This afternoon I dug out another credit card—Citi Business Card with ThankYou Network. This card will give you 10,000 ThankYou Points after $250 in purchase. The 10,000 bonus points is clearly stated at Citicards.Com. To see this card, please click here. At this page you have two choices—Visa version or MasterCard Version. You can choose whichever you’d like. After click the card type you want, you will enter the application page.

This card also offers 0% APR on purchases. So it’s also a great opportunity to take advantage of the 0% APR on purchases. This might help you to save a certain amount of money.

There are some reasons why you might have to think of getting a business card.

1). Business cards are hidden from your personal credit report. Business cards will not appear on your credit report. Therefore, your credit utilization is lower (The balance on the business cards will not appear on you credit report.) You can maintain a high credit score. In this way, you can still be able to get some great deals.

2). Business cards are generally giving out high credit limit. They are supposed to be used for business purposes.

3). Business cards have great 0% APR offers.

4). Business credit often is not included in the maximum exposure level a credit card issuer will give you. If you can’t get more credits from you personal cards, you may want to try business cards.

5). Business card issuers care less about card utilization but more about the timeliness of payment. It seems that the business credit is viewed in a different manner than is personal credit. It’s often assumed that the usage of your credit card is for you business.

How can you apply for a business card without a real business?

If you don’t have a business and want to apply for a business card for personal use, you can put Solo Proprietorship as the business type and your name as the business title. You can use your personal SSN as ITIN. You can put $0 revenue and 0 years in business. It won’t affect your chance to get a business card (as a start up company). The credit card issuers will pull your personal credit report.

Do you know a credit card with $500 annual fee? If you don’t know, please read the following introductions.

Citi has finally decided to relaunch its chairman credit card with limited promotions. The credit card is American Express Black Card which has already attracted lots of attenstion from media. As Citi stated, the card is designed to meet the specific needs of a unique group of people, including Smith Barney and Citi Private Bank clients who expect excellent service and benefits. There will be a special trained team to serve the card memebers. So what you can get from this card?

No foreign transaction fees.

Personal concierge service. Cardholders have the access to high level of concierge representatives for assistance with dinning arrangements, gift service, travel planning and so on. Of course, you can use the service for 24/7. Complimentary airport lounge access.

Rewards program. You can get 3 thankyou points for every dollar spent on purchases made at supermarkets, drug stores, gas stations, commuter transportation and parking merchants (so does every other card). Get 1 Purchase Point for every dollar spent on all other purchases. Get points for shopping with participating retailers (It’s new?).

Anything more? NO! Can you let them make a wake up calls? Can you let them handle your laundry?

Well, I just don’t understand why they put $500 annual fee on this card. You can get most of the benefits from a common card like Citi PremierPass card and CitiPremier Elite Level card. I pormise I won’t apply for this card even though I am a millionaire.

I have mentioned the AMEX business gold rewards card in my second post which can give you 25,000 membership rewards points after your first purchase. Here, I’m writing about abother great card from American Express—The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card. You can get 10,000 starpoints after your first purchase. What do the 10,000 starpoints mean??? It’s equal to 3 free night stay at the participating Starwood hotels in 95 countries! This is my dream card. Although we can get a lot of rewards cards, I think this card is beat. Let’s do the math. You can redeem 2,000-3,000 starpoints for one night stay at the starwood hotels which is about $150 dollars per night. And you can get 1 starpoint for $1 purhcase. Then you can see rate of the cash back is about 5% or more. The annual fee for the first year is waived and after that is $45. They increased the annual from $30 to $45 recently. I can imagine that a lot of friends are trying to avoid annual fee, but this card is the only one that worths paying the annual fee. If you want to try your luck, you can call in and ask for waiving the fee. Also you can convert the starpoits to other airline mileages. For example, you can redeem 20,000 starpoints for 25,000 AA miles. This is really a wonderful card! I applied this card on Aug 15th, and then I got a letter from AMEX that I have to verify my annual income. I went to the Human Resources Office to get a verification letter stating my annual income and sent out the letter yesterday. Let’s see what will happen.

Issuance of banking loans requires verification of your personal identity, annual income, etc. You should not rely completely on debt relief loans for managing your finance. You need to know the fundamentals of refinance loan. This would help you from being heavy indebted in future. You can even compare wide variety of personal and business loans online and choose the one that meets your requirements in the best possible manner. The deutsche bank is launching its new credit facility for its business customers. The customers interested in boat financing can now get low interest loans.