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Advanta Platinum Business Custom Credit Card ReviewThe Advanta Platinum Business Custom Card is a MasterCard airline rewards card issued by Advanta Business and is limited to business owners with a perfectly good credit history. It offers you a variety of services including specific services and rewards for your large or small business needs. The Advanta Platinum Business Custom Card can be used for airline rewards where you can expect the benefit of 'points' system or rebates for certain purchases. The approval rate for this card is at an all time high and if you fall into the record of "Good Credit" and have a FICO score of 801 or more then you can expect to be on the right side of approval. Though the approval time for this offer is not listed, yet it generally takes approximately a month for the approval process to be completed as the approval process takes nearly a fortnight to complete and an additional 1-2 weeks are required for the card to be delivered to you post your approval. The good news is that the introductory APR is 0% for 15 billing cycles, though this rate only applies towards balance transfers. Hence, you have to be cautious as some card issuers might charge higher rates and fees for cash advances. APRs vary among applicants due to different reasons but the lowest standard APR is 7.99% and it is fixed, so you can be rest assured that this rate will not change with the U.S. prime rates. What more, there is no annual fee for the Advanta Platinum Business Custom Card and you can get 5% of your cash back or avail the travel rewards offered. The main intention of the Advanta Platinum Business Custom Card is to attract the business owners with a flawless credit record, so if you are a business owner with nearly perfect credit records this is the ultimate card for you. All you have to do is to provide your basic business information along with your Federal tax I.D. number and business phone and address while applying for this offer. To make your transactions easy and smooth the grace period given to you by the Advanta Platinum Business Custom Card is set at twenty days at the least. Hence you can take a breather as interest charges will not be applied during the time set as the grace period. However, you will be required to pay a late fee of $19 if you fail to pay within the grace period. An over limit fee of $39 is charged from you if you exceed your permitted credit range provide by the Advanta Platinum Business Custom Card. But combined with all the other features, including you ability to save with a 0% APR for full 15 months, paying hardly becomes a difficulty. Since the Advanta Platinum Business Custom Card has the brand of MasterCard its acceptance is undoubtedly global. So you can go almost anywhere stress free and use this universally accepted card with ease and élan as most businesses that accept credit cards as a form of payment will gladly accept the MasterCard's Advanta Platinum Business Custom Card. Other articles by this author »
About Anthony Samuel
This article was brought to you courtesy of Anthony Samuel, the webmaster of http://www.apply-for-a-credit-card-now.com . A credit card directory where you can search, compare and apply for credit cards from leading credit card companies. Related
And here is another random article you might be interested in... Porter's Five Forces AnalysisIf you've ever listened to Warren Buffett talk about investing, you've heard him mention the idea of a company's moat. The moat is a simple way of describing a company's competitive advantages. Company's with a strong competitive advantage have large moats, and therefore higher profit margins. And investors should always be concerned with profit margins. This article looks at a methodology called the Porter's Five Forces Analysis. In his book Competitive Strategy, Harvard professor Michael Porter describes five forces affecting the profitability of companies. These are the five forces he noted:
These five forces, taken together, give us insight into a company's competitive position, and its profitability. Rivals Rivals are competitors within an industry. Rivalry in the industry can be weak, with few competitors that don't compete very aggressively. Or it can be intense, with many competitors fighting in a cut-throat environment. Factors affecting the intensity of rivalry are:
New Entrants One of the defining characteristics of competitive advantage is the industry's barrier to entry. Industries with high barriers to entry are usually too expensive for new firms to enter. Industries with low barriers to entry, are relatively cheap for new firms to enter. The threat of new entrants rises as the barrier to entry is reduced in a marketplace. As more firms enter a market, you will see rivalry increase, and profitability will fall (theoretically) to the point where there is no incentive for new firms to enter the industry. Here are some common barriers to entry:
Substitute Products This is probably the most overlooked, and therefore most damaging, element of strategic decision making. It's imperative that business owners (us) not only look at what the company's direct competitors are doing, but what other types of products people could buy instead. When switching costs (the costs a customer incurs to switch to a new product) are low the threat of substitutes is high. As is the case when dealing with new entrants, companies may aggressively price their products to keep people from switching. When the threat of substitutes is high, profit margins will tend to be low. Buyer Power There are two types of buyer power. The first is related to the customer's price sensitivity. If each brand of a product is similar to all the others, then the buyer will base the purchase decision mainly on price. This will increase the competitive rivalry, resulting in lower prices, and lower profitability. The other type of buyer power relates to negotiating power. Larger buyers tend to have more leverage with the firm, and can negotiate lower prices. When there are many small buyers of a product, all other things remaining equal, the company supplying the product will have higher prices and higher margins. Conversely, if a company sells to a few large buyers, those buyers will have significant leverage to negotiate better pricing. Some factors affecting buyer power are:
Supplier Power Buyer power looks at the relative power a company's customers has over it. When multiple suppliers are producing a commoditized product, the company will make its purchase decision based mainly on price, which tends to lower costs. On the other hand, if a single supplier is producing something the company has to have, the company will have little leverage to negotiate a better price. Size plays a factor here as well. If the company is much larger than its suppliers, and purchases in large quantities, then the supplier will have very little power to negotiate. Using Wal-Mart as an example, we find that suppliers have no power because Wal-Mart purchases in such large quantities. A few factors that determine supplier power include:
It's important to analyze these five forces and their affect on companies we want to invest in. The Porter Five Forces Analysis will give you a good explanation for the profitability of an industry, and the firms within it. If you want to know why a company is able, or unable, to make a decent profit, this is the first analysis you should do. Other articles by this author »
About Chris Mallon
Chris Mallon is the editor and publisher of the Undervalued
Weekly, a free personal finance and investment newsletter,
published once a week. To sign up for the Undervalued Weekly, send
e-mail to underval@hot-response.com,
or sign-up through the website at www.dynamicinvestors.net/index7.html. Related
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