Mercedes Financial has partnered with American Express, which is Amex’s first partnership with an automobile brand in the U.S.

One card offers a revolving credit line, the other requires payment in full monthly.

Both offer 5x membership rewards points on purchases of Mercedes-Benz products and services, including maintenance, and other perks.

American Express and French internet sales specialist vente-privee.com announced Thursday a new joint venture to introduce an online platform to sell designer brands in the United States.

Each partner will invest around $20 million in the new enterprise, which has yet to be named, vente-privee chief executive Jacques-Antoine Granjon said.

The new online shopping destination will be launched before the end of the year, added Granjon who was voted “Businessman of the Year 2010″ by GQ Magazine.

In order to celebrate The Centurion’s 10th anniversary American Express revealed a special Porsche 911 Carrera S Centurion Edition in Hong Kong.

The sports car is exclusive to American Express Centurion members and card holders.

From now until July 31, 2010, Centurion members in Hong Kong can place their order for the Porsche 911 Carrera S Centurion Edition.

Only three of its kind will be available. Each Porsche 997 Carrera S is priced at around HK $ 2 million ($ 256,000 or € 210,000).

New York City has launched a new global campaign to persuade people to visit as it tries to hit its ambitious annual visitor target of 50 million by 2012.

The city, which is the most popular tourist destination in the United States, unveiled its “See More. Be More. This is New York City” campaign last week, which will run in countries around the world.

By focusing on all five boroughs of New York City (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island), the campaign is expected to further broaden the appeal of lesser-known areas such as Brooklyn.

American Express has entered the private-sale travel market with a new website aimed at luxury travelers.

The new Vacationist.com is an invitation-only website featuring private sales and exclusive rates to members only.

The site launched on April 26 and is a partnership between Travel + Leisure magazine, an American Express publication, and Luxury Link, a luxury hotel website.

For quite some time the American express Centurion card or commonly known as the American black was a highly coveted item.

For users of the American black there is no such thing as credit limits ordinary folks have to put up with.

The estimate is that at the moment there approximately 17,000 black cards in circulation.

However to be eligible for the American express black you must charge 250,000 per year. The initiation fee will set you back for $5000, while the annual fee is $2500.

But apart from the no credit limit there are many added perks – a personal concierge service that will score tickets for events and make your reservations for you. Then there are the private shopping services that will open doors for you at all the major fashion houses.