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Build Your Business Sweepstakes

Official Rules
Business Owners: You Could Win $50,000
Official Rules.
No Purchase Necessary to Enter or Win.
PIN-Based & International Transactions Not Eligible For Automatic Entry.
Purchasing Will Not Increase Your Odds of Winning.
All entries, whether submitted by using a MasterCard BusinessCard® card as described below or by mail, have an equal chance of winning.
Eligibility: Sweepstakes open to principal owners of small businesses located in the 50 United States or the District of Columbia who are authorized signing officers at said small business & are legal residents of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia, 18 years of age or older as of 9/1/06 (collectively, “entrants”). A small business is a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or any other legal entity that falls within the Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) size standard for its respective private sector industry in the U.S. Additional industry-specific criteria may be applied at Sponsor's sole discretion. For additional details, visit the SBA's website at www.SBA.gov. Employees of MasterCard International Incorporated (“Sponsor”), MasterCard member financial institutions, Staples, Inc. & each of their respective parent companies, affiliates, distributors, subsidiaries, retailers, advertising/promotion agencies, & Project Support Team, Inc. (“P/S/T”) (collectively, “Released Parties”) & the immediate family members (spouses, parents, children, & siblings & their respective spouses) and/or those living in the same household of any such employees, whether or not related, are not eligible to enter or win. This Sweepstakes is subject to all applicable federal, state, & local laws & regulations. Void where prohibited.
How to Enter: Sweepstakes begins at 12:00:01AM Central Time (“CT”) on 9/1/06 & ends at 11:59:59PM CT on 10/31/06 (“Promotion Period”). 1) Automatically receive (1) entry for each qualifying transaction made with a MasterCard BusinessCard during the Promotion Period; 2) Automatically receive (1) additional entry for each qualifying PayPass tap transaction made with a MasterCard BusinessCard at a PayPass enabled merchant during the Promotion Period. For a list of PayPass enabled merchants, visit http://www.mastercard.com/paypassmerchants; 3) Automatically receive (1) additional entry for each qualifying transaction made with a MasterCard BusinessCard at a Staples store location in the U.S., at www.staples.com, or via phone at 1-800-3STAPLE. For a list of Staples store locations in the U.S., visit http://stores.staples-locator.com/staples/. Staples store locations in the U.S. are not PayPass enabled. As such, a maximum number of (2) automatic Sweepstakes entries can be received from a single qualifying MasterCard BusinessCard transaction meeting the above criteria during the Promotion Period. For the purpose of this Sweepstakes, automatic entries will be awarded in the name of the entrant (regardless of whether he/she is the individual named on the MasterCard BusinessCard that is used to transact said entry(s)). A MasterCard BusinessCard is a MasterCard card that is assigned a MasterCard BusinessCard Product Code & BIN & issued to a small business entity as identified by the issuing MasterCard member financial institution. Account adjustment transactions/returns, PIN-based & international transactions, late payment fees, over-limit or over-draft fees, return check fees, check re-order fees, cash advances, annual fees, balance transfers and/or other fees assessed on your account are not considered eligible transactions for automatic Sweepstakes entry. Entries from unauthorized card use or made with lost, stolen, or fraudulent MasterCard BusinessCard cards are void. Only purchases made with a MasterCard BusinessCard that is in good standing (both at time of entry & winner selection), verifiable by Released Parties based on the criteria outlined above, issued by a MasterCard member financial institution in the U.S. to an identifiable end user & that are processed & submitted through MasterCard International Incorporated’s U.S. transaction processing system during the Promotion Period are eligible for automatic entry; or 4) To enter the Sweepstakes without making a purchase & receive (2) entries, hand print your name, complete home mailing address, business title, small business name & complete mailing address, business & home telephone numbers, date of birth, & the words “MasterCard Build Your Business Sweepstakes” on a plain 3” x 5” piece of paper & mail it in a sealed, stamped & hand printed #10 envelope to: MasterCard Build Your Business Sweepstakes, P.O. Box 16055, Bridgeport, CT 06673-6055. Enter as often as you wish by mail, but each entry must be mailed separately to be received by 11/7/06. No photocopied, computer generated facsimiles, mechanically reproduced, or mass entries permitted. Your use of your MasterCard BusinessCard to make a purchase and/or your submission of a 3"x 5" mail-in entry constitutes your consent to participate in this Sweepstakes & your consent for Sponsor to obtain, use, & transfer your name, address & other information for the purpose of administering this Sweepstakes. Released Parties are not responsible for lost, incomplete, illegible, late, misdirected, stolen, postage-due, or mutilated entries or mail; any error, omission, interruption, defect or delay in transmission, 3rd party transaction classification, product code and/or BIN assignment, transaction processing, or communication; technical or mechanical malfunctions; failures or malfunctions of phones, phone lines, or telephone systems; errors in these Official Rules, in any Sweepstakes-related advertisements or other materials; human-processing error; failures of electronic equipment, computer hardware or software; or inaccurate entry information, whether caused by equipment, programming used in this Sweepstakes, human error, or otherwise. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to void any & all entries of an entrant who Sponsor believes has attempted to tamper with or impair the administration, security, fairness, or proper play of this Sweepstakes.
Winner Selection: For each Monthly Period listed below, (1) Monthly Prize winner will be selected in an individual random drawing from among all eligible entries received during said Monthly Period per the dates outlined below. Entries received during the first Monthly Period will not carry forward to the subsequent Monthly Prize drawing.
Monthly Periods Monthly Purchase Period Dates
(beginning 12:00:01AM CT & ending 11:59:59PM CT)
Month 1 9/1/06 - 9/30/06
Month 2 10/1/06 - 10/31/06
Mail-In Entries Received By Monthly Drawing Date
10/10/06 10/31/06
11/7/06 11/30/06
All drawings will be conducted by P/S/T, an independent judging organization whose decisions are final & binding in all matters relating to this Sweepstakes. Winners will be notified by telephone and/or mail. In the event that a potential winner is selected via a MasterCard BusinessCard transaction, prize will be awarded to the authorized signing officer on the account on behalf of the small business (as determined by the MasterCard member financial institution’s account records & subject to said financial institution’s timely identification of the authorized signing officer) named on the account accessed by the MasterCard BusinessCard used to make the entry. If the awarding of a prize is in conflict with corporate written policy or not feasible after Sponsor's good faith effort to obtain verifiable MasterCard BusinessCard authorized signing officer contact information from the applicable MasterCard member financial institution, prize will be forfeited & an alternate winner may be selected. Odds of winning will depend on the number of eligible entries received for the applicable drawing. Limit one prize per person, immediate family member, or household. (2) Monthly Prizes/(1) Prize Per Monthly Period: $50,000 which may be used toward a Business Building Fund awarded in the form of a check (Approximate Retail Value “ARV”=$50,000). Total ARV of all prizes=$100,000.
Miscellaneous: No transfer, assignment or substitution of prize except by Sponsor due to prize unavailability, & then for a prize of equal or greater value. Federal, state, & local taxes & all other expenses not specified herein are winners’ sole responsibility. Winners will be required to execute & return an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability Release & (where legal) Publicity Release within (3) days of issuance of notification. Non-compliance with any of the foregoing may result in disqualification & awarding of prize to an alternate winner. If any prize notification letter is returned as undeliverable, winner will be disqualified & an alternate winner may be selected. By participating, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules & agree that: 1) Released Parties & their designees & assigns shall have the right & permission to use (unless prohibited by law) their name, voice, city/state of residence, photograph, and/or likeness for advertising and/or trade and/or any other purpose in any media or format now or hereafter known without further compensation, permission, or notification; & 2) Released Parties & their designees & assigns & all of their respective officers, directors, employees, shareholders, representatives & agents shall have no liability & will be held harmless for any liability, loss, injury or death to entrant or any other person, including, without limitation, damage to personal or real property, due in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, by reason of the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of a prize or participation in this Sweepstakes.
Winners List: For the winners’ names, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to be received by 12/28/06 to: MasterCard Build Your Business Sweepstakes Winners, P.O. Box 13106, Bridgeport, CT 06673-3106.
©2006 MasterCard International Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
Sponsor: MasterCard, 2000 Purchase Street, Purchase, NY 10577
Promoter: Project Support Team, Inc., 100 Mill Plain Road, Danbury, CT 06811/www.ProjectSupportTeam.com