Starwood Hotels and car rental companies Avis and Budget have joined the Savings at Work program, launched earlier this year, which offers mid-size customers of the American Express® Corporate Card discounts of up to 25 percent with the leading suppliers for a wide range of business needs, including computers, wireless telephone services, office supplies, overnight shipping and conference calls.

As the world's largest issuer of corporate cards, American Express has leveraged the collective buying potential of tens of thousands of mid-size clients to negotiate savings on a variety of products and services from national brand-name suppliers, including Staples, FedEx, Dell, Conference Plus Inc., and AT&T Wireless Services.

“Savings at Work offers mid-size companies discounts on a scale usually reserved for larger corporations,” said Anré Williams, senior vice president and general manager for U.S. Middle Market, American Express Corporate Services. “We make it easy to see the hard-dollar savings — discounts are immediate and simple with Savings at Work; mid-size companies don't need to meet any volume thresholds.”

American Express developed the program in response to feedback from its mid-size clients and from industry research that revealed financial executives at mid-size companies felt they weren't getting the level of discount they deserved from suppliers. An American Express-sponsored survey conducted by CFO Research Services this summer found that 78 percent of CFOs at nearly 500 mid-size companies said they were not getting the best rates possible from vendors, due largely to a lack of buying power and aggregated spending data.

By the same token, national suppliers often have a difficult time marketing to mid-size companies effectively. By offering a significant discount, Savings at Work helps suppliers reach out to tens of thousands of mid-size companies, and gives those companies a clear incentive to shop with these particular suppliers.

Attractive Discounts on Popular Items
The program covers popular products and services within mid-size companies' top categories of everyday expenses:

• Starwood offers an average of 20 percent off standard corporate rates at Westin Hotels & Resorts, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Four Points by Sheraton, St. Regis, The Luxury Collection and W Hotels.
   
• Avis offers exclusive rates that save companies an average of 25 percent off its standard rates.
   
• Budget offers cardmembers up to 25 percent off standard rates.
   
• Staples is offering mid-size companies the same discounts that a large company earns — an average of 20-25 percent versus their current office supply program.
   
• FedEx offers American Express cardmembers special savings on select FedEx Express and FedEx Ground services.
   
• Dell customers can receive discounts of 10 percent off many models of desktop and notebook PCs, as well as servers.
   
• Conference Plus offers 20 percent or more off its retail rates on conference calls with its ConferenceAnytime(TM) service.
   
• AT&T Wireless is offering 20 percent savings on a wide selection of new wireless phones, including the latest next-generation phones, and up to 15 percent off its popular mLife(SM) calling plans.

In most cases, the discounts are automatically activated when a cardmember calls a participating merchant's dedicated toll-free line or visits its website and uses an American Express Corporate Card to make purchases. In some cases, a master account number is necessary.

About American Express Corporate Services
American Express is the world's leading issuer of commercial cards for managing travel and entertainment and indirect procurement expenses. Through its Corporate Services group, the company counts nearly 70 percent of the Fortune 500, along with tens of thousands of mid-size companies, as customers of its Corporate Travel, Corporate Card and Corporate Purchasing Solutions. Click here for more information on expense management tools from Corporate Services.

American Express Company is a diversified worldwide travel, financial and network services company founded in 1850. It is a world leader in charge and credit cards, Travelers Cheques, travel, financial planning, business services, insurance and international banking.