American Express Launches Blue Cash Preferred for Morgan Stanley & E-Trade Customers ($100 Annual Bonus w/$15k Spend)

Update: There’s now a $400 signup bonus on this card with waived annual fee

BCP Morgan Stanley Version

Press Release | Direct Card Link

American Express launched today a version of the popular Blue Cash Preferred card exclusively for Morgan Stanley customers. This includes E-Trade customers, a company owned by Morgan Stanley.

The card has very similar to the standard Blue Cash Preferred card, including signup bonus and all, with one exception:

  • The Morgan Stanley Amex Blue Cash Preferred card gets a $100 annual statement credit after spending $15,000 on purchases in the calendar year.

Card Details

  • Annual fee of $95 waived first year
  • Card earns the following cashback rates:
    • 6% at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 in spend annually, then 1%)
    • 6% on U.S. Streaming subscriptions
    • 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations
    • 3% cash back on Transit (e.g taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more)
    • 1% on everything else
  • $100 statement credit every year after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases

Currently, the signup bonus on the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred card is $300 after spending $3,000 within the first 6 months.

Our Verdict

While the Morgan Stanley American Express Platinum card is only available for Morgan Stanley clients (which typically means a managed portfolio, see also this post), the Morgan Stanley Amex Blue Cash Preferred is available to E*Trade clients as well. I believe you can open an e*Trade account with no fees and no minimums and be eligible for this card.

I found the launch of this card to be interesting, but may or may not be useful. I can see two angles here:

  • $100 annual bonus: The annual $100 bonus is nice, but many people won’t want to spend $15,000 on a 1%-earning credit card. You can do $6,000 on groceries, and potentially some more on Streaming, Gas, and Transit, but for me personally it would not be worth spending $15,000 on the card to get the $100 bonus.
  • Signup Bonus: Since this is a new version of the Blue Cash Preferred, it should be possible to get this card and bonus even if you’ve gotten the standard Blue Cash Preferred signup bonus in the past. A $300 cash signup bonus will be interesting to some. Note: at the moment, there’s a better $350 signup bonus on the standard Blue Cash Preferred card, so you’ll want to do that one first, if eligible.

I wonder if they’ll allow upgrades/downgrades between the Morgan Stanley Platinum and the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred. There’s one other Morgan Stanley Membership Rewards card that has no annual fee; not sure if they allow upgrades/downgrades with that card.

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B^2
B^2 (@guest_1508320)
December 13, 2022 00:11

 Chuck deal is sweeter now, saw this via etrade homepage:
https://us.etrade.com/l/morgan-stanley-blue-cash-preferred
Earn $400 back after you spend $3,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card within the first six months of Card Membership.
$0 intro annual fee for the first year
0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months

Jags
Jags (@guest_1282253)
November 12, 2021 14:16

This card also comes with $120 ($10/mo) in Equinox+ credits should anyone find that useful.

Kafka
Kafka (@guest_1281631)
November 11, 2021 09:20

Interesting that this is a statement credit, like the appreciation credit on the Schwab Platinum, rather than a cash deposit, like the engagement credit on the Morgan Stanley Platinum with Platinum CashPlus. Presumably that means it avoids a 1099 like the CashPlus will now get.

K-Man
K-Man (@guest_1281462)
November 10, 2021 21:04

You could essentially write-off the $95 fee already with the 6% on grocery for a 4.4% return. Now you’ve got another 9K spend where you’ll get 7.1% on streaming, 4.1% on gas and transit, and 2.1% on anything else. It’s not terribly exciting but could be worth doing. Just spend in the other bonus categories as much as you can then top off spend requirement with something like a tax payment where you can make one big, very precise payment.

James
James (@guest_1281376)
November 10, 2021 18:45

The $100 bonus makes this essentially a 2% card for some people, assuming you do the $6k on groceries and then spend enough at 1% to get over the $15k. It might be an interesting option for those who’d just prefer to carry one card and typically spend about $10k on their 2% card.

Dheeraj
Dheeraj (@guest_1281391)
November 10, 2021 19:20

That’s a nice angle to look at it.

Lrdx
Lrdx (@guest_1281404)
November 10, 2021 19:43

It still has a $95 annual fee, so.. no. Unless you spend the max $6k and around $9k in the 3% categories, this credit only benefits AmEx for fooling people to spend on this card.

GengisKhan
GengisKhan (@guest_1281629)
November 11, 2021 09:11

6000 x .06 + 9000 x .03 + 100 – 95 = 625 which is 4.16% back on 15K – best case scenario

I have the Blue Cash Preferred and the 6% back on Groceries and Streaming is worth it. Don’t spend 6K on groceries in a year? Well, grocery stores sell lots of GCs.

Kafka
Kafka (@guest_1281642)
November 11, 2021 09:32

If you did that, you’d be taking home $635/yr. If you spent a more reasonable $500 grocery, $15 streaming, $160 gas+transit, and $575 at 1% monthly, you’d still net $502/yr. Either beats $300 on $15k from a 2% no-fee card.

I’m not saying it’s the most optimal, but it’s not “fooling people.”

Lrdx
Lrdx (@guest_1282053)
November 12, 2021 01:13

You act like having this card and a 2% card is impossible at the same time.

Anthony
Anthony (@guest_1281261)
November 10, 2021 15:55

Would this be considered a separate product from the regular BCP to get the SUB (like how the MS plat and vanilla plat are different)? NVM: I see the note above.

Jeff
Jeff (@guest_1281205)
November 10, 2021 15:08

The other question is whether they will offer the MS Platinum card to Etrade customers

DWT
DWT (@guest_1281204)
November 10, 2021 15:08

I don’t know how popular the no-AF MS American Express Card (the one that earns MR points) was, but it’s interesting that it’s not featured on the landing page referenced in the press release, and also that the release says, “The Blue Cash Preferred Card joins the Platinum Card in the portfolio of American Express Cards exclusively for Morgan Stanley.” It sounds like they may be phasing that one out, but the old app link still works for now.

Kevin
Kevin (@guest_1281311)
November 10, 2021 17:12

Chuck raises an interesting point, I could see them allowing PC Blue Cash Preferred to the MS Credit Card and vice versa since they are both lending. That might be a good option for some.

Credit card guy
Credit card guy (@guest_1281400)
November 10, 2021 19:39

Interesting. My first thought on seeing this post was to ask if we can expect a Charles Schwab version (since there are both MS and Schwab versions of the Platinum).

Kevin
Kevin (@guest_1281497)
November 10, 2021 22:21

One could hope 🙂

Lela
Lela (@guest_1285333)
November 18, 2021 07:31

Once upon a time there was a lower end Charles Schwab version.