Charles Schwab accidently leaked the details of their co-branded American Express credit cards (again, this is the second leak). They will be offering two cards with the following features/benefits:
Contents
Schwab Investor Credit Card from American Express
- No annual fee
- Sign up bonus of $100 after $1,000 in spend
- Card earns 1.5% cash back on all purchases with no cap
- 0% Introductory APR on balance transfers and purchases for the first six months.
This card isn’t exciting at all, you can earn 2%+ cash back on all purchases and there are cards with cash bonuses far higher than $100.
American Express Platinum Card® for Schwab
- Annual fee of $450
- 40,000 American Express Membership Rewards points after $3,000 in purchases in the first three months
- Ability to deposit American Express Membership Rewards points into your account at a rate of 1.25¢ per point
- Receive a $100 Card statement credit if your qualifying Schwab holdings are equal to or greater than $250,000 or receive a $200 Card statement credit if your qualifying Schwab holdings are equal to or greater than $1,000,000, when measured following Card account approval and annually thereafter.
- Card earns 1x Membership Reward point per dollar spent
- Standard American Express Platinum Benefits:
- Airport Lounge Access Program and Priority Passâ„¢ Select
- Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓™
- $200 Airline Fee Credit
This card is basically the standard American Express Platinum card, but gives you the ability to redeem your points for 1.25 in cash value and also gives you a discount on the annual fee if you have significant holdings with Schwab. The good thing about this card is that it’s considered a separate product, so if you already have/had the other versions of the Platinum card you can get this card and get the sign up bonus again (remember you can only get the sign up bonus on American Express cards once per lifetime).
Our Verdict
Investor card is really of no interest, Platinum card looks to be an interesting deal. Depending on what accounts qualify (gotta have a brokerage account with Schwab to apply) I might pick it up and liquidate some membership rewards points into cash. What are your thoughts on the new cards? Let me know in the comments.
My wife was denied for the Schwab plat card and the reason given was that this was the same product as a platinum card she already had (she has the Ameriprise Plat and regular Amex Plat card). They were saying its the same product as the regular Amex Plat card, thus she was denied. Both a rep and his Supervisor told me this (that underwriting had stated this in the ‘cancel’ reason details). I thought from everything I’ve read these are all considered different products???
Is there any restriction on how long MR redemptions into a Schwab account must remain there? Or can I just move my MR points into Schwab at 1.25:1 today and then transfer then right back out to a connected bank account tomorrow?
I did not see the ‘once per lifetime’ language in the terms. Am I missing it?
1.5% with Amex and its perks (painless double extended warranty, buyer’s protection) is better than 2% cash back with my Citi MC Doublecash.
If I buy some electronic device that costs $1000 is $15 vs $20 cash back. Those $5 less in my wallet are well worth the superior buyer protection services provided by Amex.
I could still use the Citi doublecash for let’s say a subway metrocard or some lunch bill.
But if I had to choose one I’d stick with Amex. Superior service is worth a few dollars.
How is it that you find 1.5% cash back not exciting, but you find 1.25% cash back exciting?
I don’t find 1.25% cash back exciting, it’s possible to earn more than 1x Membership Reward point…
All the descriptions of this card say that it has all the standard Amex Platinum benefits, but the lists of benefits never include the various hotel status benefits. Does anyone know whether or not the Schwab Amex Platinum confers any hotel status?
You get Gold status for Hilton and for Marriott / Bonvoy.
Will IRA SCHWAB accounts be included when looking at the Schwab qualifying balances?
Not sure yet, there was a link to qualifying accounts but I didn’t see what was listed before the page went down.
1.5 is decent considering that Amex has better buyer’s protection and extended warranty.
on a $1000 purchase it is $5 difference in cash back, but whenever I used Amex’s extended warranty protection it saved me $100 / 200. I heard that Citi Double Cash is more cumbersome. I have a Blue Cash Amex which has 3% back on groceries and 2 % on gas, I also have a Citi Double cash, but I will apply for a Schwab Amex. 1.5 % back on electronics or stuff that may require a repair is better than Citi’s 2% back with worse buyer’s protection. I signed up for a Schwab account and I am happy. It is nice to be able to speak quickly with a local, competent phone rep compared to Citibank
Nice deal for American Express Platinum Card® for Schwab…one more card to load up on AMEX membership points. Since I don’t have immediate need for extra AMEX points, I may hold off on it for now. Will definitely jump on it if 100k/150k bonus comes up in the future.
B/c this is Scwab, is this considered 3rd party and not suggest to the 4 AMEX limit?
I only ask b/c I need an Amex to replace my AMEX JB and figured this wouldn’t be one of them
No, it’s a co-branded card. Still issued by American Express.
Is the AMEX Schwab investor card a “third party bank card”? Is “co-branded” considered to NOT be a “third party bank card”?
It’s issued by American Express so it’s not a third party card, it’s a co-branded card. Hope that makes sense.
It’s a charge card. No limit to the number of those you can hold so long as they approve you. I have PRG, Regular Plat, Biz Gold, Standard Gold, and Green.