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.
    Chuck
  • On November 10, 2021, 15:00
Tags: american expressamerican express blue cash preferredetrademorgan stanley

View Comments (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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

    • 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.

      • 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."

      • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

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