American Express and Starwood Hotels yesterday announced a new feature for American Express Gold Card members that will give Amex holders a $75 food and beverage credit when they stay at least two nights at a Starwood hotel. Starwood is the parent company of over 500 hotels, including the W, Westin, Sheraton, and Le Meridien brands.

To get the credit, American Express Gold cardholders must book through American Express via an American Express Travel Service location or by phone at 1-888-559-5576.

The Starwood food & beverage credit is the latest perk offered by American Express through its “Gold Card Destinations” program, which offers discounts or freebies from certain travel partners.

Chase announced today that its Chase Freedom Card would begin offering cardholders the ability to use cash back rewards as immediate statement credits versus waiting for $50 to accumulate in their accounts before being paid. Statement credits will be offered after as little as 200 points have accumulated. (Chase Freedom uses a points rewards system, with points being easily converted to cash. In this case, 200 points would equal $2.00.) With Chase Freedom offering 3% rebates in multiple categories, the low threshold for statement credit could be hit with less than $100 in card spending.

The Chase Freedom Card offers 3% cash back rebates on purchases in the top three spending categories of the cardholder each month, and offers 1% cash back on all other purchases. Unique in the industry is the fact that the Freedom Card automatically adjusts that 3% rebate to whatever a cardholder’s spending pattern is during that particular month, so that the highest rebate is always associated with the largest purchases.

For example, a cardholder could spend the most money at gas stations, grocery stores and the dry cleaner this month, while spending the most at department stores, drug stores and on utilities next month. Regardless of where the most money is spent, the 3% rebate is applied to those categories.

Chase Freedom cardholders may still choose to accumulate points/cash in the previous manner and be paid by check when $50 has been accumulated.

If you’re not a Chase Freedom Card holder and are interested in the card, you can click here for more information and a card application.

MasterCard Inc. and American Express announced today a lawsuit settlement that will result in MasterCard paying up to $1.8 billion to American Express. The settlement stems from American Express’ lawsuit against MasterCard over alleged anti-competitive practices that for years prevented American Express from forming banking relationships that could have widened its distribution. American Express settled a similar lawsuit against Visa last year for over $2 billion.

The MasterCard payments to American Express will be made in quarterly installments over three years.

The announcement of the settlement is timely for American Express in that the company’s CEO Kenneth Chenault says credit conditions have deteriorated “beyond our expectations” due to the worsening state of the economy, and the money gives the company “a multi-year source of funds that should, among other things, help to lessen the impact of this weakening economic cycle.”

In 2006, American Express (and Discover as well) were given the ability to partner with banks to create their own payment networks like those of MasterCard and Visa after American Express successfully argued in the courts that MasterCard and Visa should not be allowed to force banks into exclusive contracts. The result of that decision opened up the ability for there to be, for example, a Citi American Express Card or a Bank of America American Express Card, where in the past those banks could only offer Visa- or MasterCard-branded cards. The lawsuits by American Express attempted to recoup monies it said were lost to it due to these exclusive agreements that Visa and MasterCard negotiated in exchange for the banks using their payment networks and branding their cards as “Visa” or “MasterCard.”

Since the lawsuits were initially filed, both MasterCard and Visa have become public companies and seen their stock prices skyrocket. Despite the huge payment amounts each is making to American Express, the settlements were seen as smart moves because they remove outstanding lawsuits that could cause concern in the eyes of current and future shareholders.

Airline Virgin Atlantic today announced the launch of two Virgin Atlantic American Express Cards, with varying rewards and annual fees depending on your preferences, including the possibility of riding into space on Virgin’s sister service Virgin Galactic.

The Virgin Atlantic Black Card offers 3 miles per dollar spent on Virgin Atlantic purchases, and 1.5 miles per dollar on all other purchases, plus 20,000 bonus miles after your first purchase with the card, and up to 15,000 bonus miles every year that you continue to carry the card. The annual fee is $90.

The Virgin Atlantic White Card offers 3 miles per dollar on Virgin purchases, and 1 mile per dollar everywhere else, plus 12,500 bonus miles after your first card purchase and up to 7,500 bonus miles every year that you carry the card. The annual fee is $49.

Cardholders can use their miles for travel on Virgin Atlantic or one of their 14 airline partners, as well as cabin upgrades, car rentals, hotels, or a trip into space on Virgin Galactic (no word on how many miles that will require).

From now through January of 2009, for every $10,000 they spend with the card, cardholders get an automatic entry for a chance to win a trip into space on Virgin Galactic, without redeeming any of their miles.

The Virgin Atlantic American Express Cards are issued by Bank of America.

Click here to apply for a Virgin Atlantic credit card.

Ultimate Fighting Championship, which stages popular mixed martial arts competitions, is set to launch the UFC Visa Card on June 15. The card will feature a standard reward points program, with points redeemable toward UFC merchandise as well as cash, gift cards, merchandise, travel rewards, etc.

According to an article yesterday from the Associated Press, the new UFC Visa is part of a multi-pronged merchandising blitz that will include UFC action figures, clothing, video games, and trading cards.

The UFC Visa Card will be issued by US Bank.

AT&T and their credit card partner Citi announced the launch today of the AT&T Universal Business Rewards Card, a credit card targeted at small business owners.

The new AT&T card offers Citi ThankYou points as rewards — 5 points for every dollar spent on eligible AT&T products and services, 3 points per dollar at participating office-supply retailers, gas stations and service providers such as accounting and legal firms, and 1 point per dollar everywhere else. Points can be redeemed for travel, gift cards, merchandise and more. Cardholders can earn up to 100,000 points per year.

The card also offers some other pro-business benefits, perhaps most notably Citi’s Prescription Discount program that offers 10% to 60% savings on prescription drugs at over 48,000 pharmacies.

Click here for more info or to apply for the AT&T Universal Business Rewards Card.

Online travel site Orbitz has re-launched its co-branded credit card, partnering with Capital One in an attempt to create the longest credit card name in history — the Orbitz Visa Credit Card powered by Capital One No Hassle Rewards.

The Orbitz Visa (for short) offers 3 points per dollar on most travel purchases via Orbitz.com, and 1 point per dollar on card purchases anywhere else. The card also offers 2,000 bonus points for booking complete vacations via Orbitz, 1,000 bonus points for booking hotels via Orbitz and a 500-point bonus on airline ticket purchases. Points can be used for free or discount travel, cash back, gift cards or merchandise.

In a neat twist, cardholders also get a 250-point “refueling” bonus every time they redeem their existing reward points, so the point balance never goes down to zero.

Prior to its new launch with Capital One, Orbitz had offered a MasterCard in partnership with Juniper Bank/Barclays.

If you’re interested, click here to apply for the Orbitz Visa.

While average rates in most credit card categories dipped slightly this week, the average rate for reward credit cards actually rose, indicative of the repricing being done by several issuers on select cards. From this point forward, we at IndexCreditCards.com doubt any further rate cuts will be coming — even if the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates again later this month, we believe many card companies will re-price their offerings for new customers, taking away any benefit the Fed might be seeking to give.

The average credit card rate for non-reward consumer credit cards is now 12.38%, down from 12.41%, and setting a new two-year low in our survey.

However, the average rate on credit cards with rewards rose to 14.38%, up from 14.27% two weeks ago, and identical to the average rate calculated at the beginning of May. Looking at these numbers, we can say that the April 30 Federal Reserve interest rate cut has been erased as far as reward credit cards are concerned; after an initial dip, rates are right back to where they were before the cut.

The averages listed above attempt to take into account the multiple tiers that many credit card issuers offer, instead of accounting for only the lowest listed rates. However, IndexCreditCards.com also tracks the very lowest listed rates, those reserved for customers with the very best credit. This week those averages are at 9.22% for non-reward consumer cards and 12.04% for consumer cards with rewards.

Small business credit card rates continue to fall. The average rate for non-reward business credit cards is 10.43%, down from 10.52% two weeks ago and 10.80% on May 2. The average rate for reward business credit cards stands at 11.71%, down from 11.79% two weeks ago, and 12.14% at the beginning of May.

Student credit card rates dipped slightly in this week’s survey. The average student card rate is 14.41%, down from 14.44% on May 19, and 14.57% on May 2.

Financial institutions represented in the survey include Advanta, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Discover, National City, Pulaski Bank, U.S. Bank, Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo and more.

HSBC launched a new MasterCard into the growing “green” credit card field yesterday, with the introduction of the Ecosmart MasterCard.

Ecosmart MasterCard holders will receive one point for every dollar in purchases with the card, and can use those points to donate to environmental organizations including The Climate Group, Earthwatch Institute, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Arbor Day Foundation, Wind Power Renewable Choice, and Our Energy.

If they lose their environmental zeal in the future, cardholders can instead use the points for cash back, travel rewards, gift cards or other traditional credit card rewards.

HSBC’s Ecosmart MasterCard joins several other “green” credit cards introduced in the past year or so, including the Brighter Planet credit card from Bank of America, and the Earth Rewards credit card from GE Money.

Click here to apply for the HSBC Ecosmart MasterCard.

Using government debt data and census data, IndexCreditCards.com has determined that the average American adult is carrying $4,246 in revolving debt and the average American household is carrying $8,218 in revolving debt.

These numbers represent a 19% and 13% increase, respectively, over the averages calculated by IndexCreditCards.com in January of 2006. At that time, the average debt per adult was $3,560 and the average revolving debt per household was $7,271.

Data released earlier this month from the Federal Reserve Board estimates that revolving consumer debt in the United States totals $975.2 billion. Using census data from 2006 to the present, IndexCreditCards.com estimates the adult (18 and over) population of the U.S. at 229,655,039 and the total number of households at 116,462,357. Dividing the total revolving debt by the population/household figures gives the resulting debt averages.

Revolving debt is mainly debt from credit cards, although related revolving consumer debt such as home equity lines of credit are included as well. Note that not all revolving debt is long-term debt accruing interest — some of this debt is paid off each month (although pinpointing how much is difficult). However, the trend shows that more and more purchases are being put on credit cards, and undoubtedly the amount that sits unpaid grows as well.

“A 19 percent jump in revolving debt in two-and-a-half years is difficult to believe,” says Justin McHenry, Research Director at IndexCreditCards.com, “but that’s what the numbers tell us. Part of this jump can be explained by the increased use of credit cards in general, including by those who pay off their balances each month. But the jump is too drastic to be explained so easily. Americans are taking on more debt, and there’s every reason to believe they’re having a harder time paying it off.”