Update 1/25/23: Readers report getting a 1099 for $695 for the engagement bonus. Readers note an interesting thing that Morgan Stanley does deduct any fees paid from the 1099 (e.g. if you paid one month $55 fee, you’ll get a 1099 for $640). Readers suggest that only totals of $600+ are getting the form.
Update 10/14/22: Looks like you can still sign up using this link and continuing as guest.
Update 10/14/22: Sign up has been removed early.
Update 10/3/22: Access Investing won’t be open to new accounts starting December 1, 2022, so now is the last time to get in on this. Existing customers will continue everything as before.
8/4/21: A number of updates: 1) the annual fee on the Platinum card is now $695; likewise, the Engagement Bonus is now $695 as well. 2) The signup bonus is now 100,000 points, at the time of this writing. 3) The Platinum CashPlus cash management account has increased to $55/mo. 4) They no longer offer the $695 during the first year for Access Investing accounts (ht nonozone). 5) The note about the $550 not being taxable with $1,000 is gone too, so might be taxable now (ht Jake).
Original Post:
You can get a $550 Engagement Bonus to offset the annual fee on the American Express Platinum Morgan Stanley card if you have open a Morgan Stanley Platinum CashPlus deposit account and maintain $25,000 average balance and have $5,000 deposited to the account each month.
The Morgan Stanley Amex Platinum card is almost identical to the ordinary Amex Platinum card, and comes with a bonus of 60,000 points after $5,000 spend. (You can get the bonus on each Platinum card separately.) One benefit it has over the ordinary Platinum is the ability to cash out points at 1 cent per point (sorry, not 1.1 like Schwab). Another benefit is that you get one free authorized user who gets many of the Amex Platinum benefits; no other version of the Platinum offers that.
Background
Back in 2016 we wrote about how to get the – then – $450 annual fee waived on the MS Platinum card, and it involved having at least $1,000,000 in investments to be eligible. Then, in 2019, we learned that it’s actually possible to have a Morgan Stanley relationship without the big bucks: the bank offers an investing platform called Access Investing which requires just $5,000 deposit and comes with a .35% fee ($17.50 per year). Many people began using that relationship to become eligible for the Amex MS Platinum card, one of the many flavors of the American Express Platinum card.
$550 Fee Waiver
Earlier this year, they tweaked the program to waive the $550 on the Amex MS Platinum card: Going forward, a customer with the MS Platinum CashPlus cash management/bank account who is also an Amex MS Platinum cardholder gets an annual $550 engagement bonus. The cash management account is similar to the cash management accounts at other brokerage firms (e.g. many of us have a Fidelity cash management account), and it seems to be a bit safer than others since they sweep the funds into FDIC insured accounts.
The big thing to be aware of is the Platinum CashPlus cash management account has a $45 monthly fee; paying that fee for a year will cost $540, leaving you with just $10 savings on the card annual fee. You can have the fee waived, but it requires $25,000 tied up and $5,000 deposited monthly. Here are the four requirements to have the fee waived:
- $5000 in total monthly deposits. This includes things like Zelle, check deposits, and more. (Also worth noting that those who get Social Security can have those deposits go to their Platinum CashPlus account and that counts for the deposit requirement, regardless of the amount of your Social Security benefit.)
- $25,000 in Average Daily Cash Balance (in the Bank Deposit Program)
- Additional eligible Morgan Stanley investment account (Access Investing will work for this)
- Morgan Stanley Online enrollment
The $550 credit is not just for renewals – you’ll even get the $550 credit for the first year you signup.
8 $550 Annual Engagement Bonus for Platinum CashPlus accounts may be received if 1) you are the Basic Card Member of the Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley (the Basic Card Member is defined as the primary account holder); or 2) if you spend at least $100,000 during the calendar year across Morgan Stanley Debit Cards associated with Platinum CashPlus Accounts in your ALG. Each ALG is eligible for one bonus per calendar year. Each client is eligible for one bonus per calendar year. For more information, please refer to the CashPlus Account Disclosure Statement.
Order of Business
Important caveat: Dealspoints reports that you’ll have to first open the Platinum CashPlus bank account BEFORE applying for the Amex Morgan Stanley Platinum card; those who already have the MS Amex Platinum card will not be eligible for the $550 credit. Also, in order to open the Platinum CashPlus account you need to first have an investing relationship. So here’s the order of how to go about this:
- Open Morgan Stanley Access Investing with $5,000 investment
- (You might need to wait 30 days now before opening the Platinum CashPlus account)
- Open Morgan Stanley Platinum CashPlus cash management account (and register the account for online access)
- Open Amex Morgan Stanley Platinum card
I think it’s quite plausible that you can get the $550 Engagement Bonus if you have a banker manually connect your existing Amex MS Platinum card to your Morgan Stanley Platinum CashPlus profile, but this is unconfirmed. See this discussion in the comments.
Our Verdict
Is this a good deal? Well, it ties up $25,000, so not a great deal. It’s still not bad, at least in current environment, to get $550 back on the year for $25,000 tied up since the $550 will amount to a return of 2.20% APY. Personally, I don’t think I’d find it worthwhile to deal with the monthly $5,000 deposits just for the incremental benefit over an ordinary high-yield account (especially being that over time those accounts will likely begin offering better rates), but it’s interesting to hear about this option nonetheless.
After writing this, I see Reddit users note that this $550 annual credit is not be taxable provided you spend $1,000 on your Platinum card throughout the year (pdf link). Hence, you’re actually getting 2.20% return on your $25,000 AND not paying tax on that money. Certainly makes it more interesting.
Reader Daniel sent us the details of the new fee-waiver program back in January, and I added an update to our original post at the time, but I didn’t quite wrap my head around it until seeing this discussion today on Reddit. As the details have changed a lot, I figured it was worth a new post here. Hat tip to dealspoints for their clear write-up on this as well.
View Comments (777)
@6 the link to Invest with Rewards has been removed since Saturday. Might be a glitch but they might be trying to stop it now that Schwab 1.1 has been capped. They did break the transfer after clicking the link for a few days last month and fix it, so it's possible it's a glitch, but could be a prelude to a cap now that this is the best option for easy cash.
I haven't received the closure notice, although I do have a brokerage account with them as well (not MS Access Direct)
It looks like there's a new wave of shutdowns for MS Platinum CashPlus accounts, @6.
I'm not sure if it's related to not meeting monthly fee avoidance criteria, or if it's related to Morgan Stanley trying to transition people out of using Platinum CashPlus accounts so that they can reallocate support resources to other account types.
The below was posted also on the FT thread, where there's some DPs of shutdown including my own:
This morning, I received bad news, prompted by an email with the subject "Correspondence is Now Available," containing the following:
"General correspondence is now available on Morgan Stanley Online for your accounts:
XXX-XXXXXX Required Client Letter
To view your documents, go to the Documents page on Morgan Stanley Online."
Upon logging in, the letter I received informed me that "we can no longer continue to service your account" and provided some alternatives, including the option to open an E-Trade account.
I almost overlooked this email, as it looked like a generic notification one, but thanks to the replies on the FT thread, I took a closer look.
The strange thing is, I currently have a qualifying investing account linked (a MS Access Direct account), but I have not been meeting the cash avoidance requirement and have been paying the $55/month fee. Perhaps this is the actual reason they are discontinuing our Platinum CashPlus accounts, or maybe they're just trying to get people away from these accounts so they can reallocate resources to other account types (e.g., E-trade).
Does anyone have insight into whether simply having a MS Access Direct (MSAD) account is sufficient to retain the MS Platinum card?
Received a correspondence from Morgan Stanley this morning that they can no longer service my platinum cash plus account. Anyone else receive it? I was paying the $55 monthly fee and parking the 25k elsewhere.
same happend to me about 3 months ago, where ti was also paying the $55 fee since interest i got elsewhere was more than the $55. they closed my platinum sav acct . about a month after amex sent me a letter saying they are closing my ms amex in 60 days becuase i no longer have a qulaifying relationship
Did you try calling Morgan Stanley to see if there was anything you could do to keep the platinum cashplus account open?
I also received this correspondence this morning. There's some discussion about it in the FT thread.
That's absurd! Any reason in the letter? Or did you call them to ask?
Do you have any account with them other than the CashPlus?
If I understand this right you can still use an existing AI account to get this card you just can’t open any new AI accounts? I have the card currently but am think of dropping it for most of next year and then re-applying next December.
I have this card for the last 2 years. Your thoughts if it is worth keeping 25 k plus in cash plus account. I get 1099 for $695. Centurion lounge is a good benefit plus a free AU.
It's not worth parking the funds there anymore, especially considering the current interest rate environment and the potential tax liability of the bonus.
Assuming you are meeting all the requirements of the account, here's how things may *roughly* work out:
Parking $25k in account (not including the 5k DDs):
-$695 annual fee by Amex
+$695 engagement bonus
-1099-MISC sent by MS on the $695 (if you don't end up deducting the annual fee as an expense, you end up paying federal/state taxes on the bonus)
---
~ You end up net negative ~$200 assuming a combined tax rate of ~30%.
Parking $25k in Treasury Bills:
-$695 annual fee by Amex
-$660 CashPlus monthly fees (12x$55)
+$695 engagement bonus
+$55 one courtesy fee waiver
+$1287.5 in interest (assuming 5.15%)
-$309 in federal taxes (no state tax on T-bills, assuming 24% bracket)
---
~ You end up net positive $370, or a little over $310 even without a courtesy fee waiver. Even in the worst-case scenario where Morgan Stanley sends a 1099-MISC with the $695 without deducting other fees (which seemingly they don't do unless it's over +$600), the interest surplus should still be able to cover those tax implications with extra to spare.
David, I appreciate your detailed post, very nicely explained.
I do not want to deal with treasury bill ( looks like lot of work), but if I move the 25k plus to amex savings 4% (find it easy to move in/out money), it might be same as case 1 because I will have to pay 30% on the $1000 plus interest I gained.
Does it sound correct?
Also $55 fee waiver is one time benefit or once in a year?
TIA!
IF you do not want to deal with TreasuryDirect (I don't, due to bad experience in setting up the account with no help!), it is very easy to buy them through Schwab or Fidelity (probably others as well), almost similar to buying a CD. I buy it in the secondary market - the yield to maturity is spelled out -- and just hold them till maturity. Typically have a ladder maturing every three months. You get alerts when one is coming up for maturity and you just buy another one. Basically a 5 min exercise every three months.
What should I search for to find them in Schwab?
Treasury Bills are extremely easy and you can treat them like short-term CDs (except T-bills don't have state taxes). You sign up for an account on TreasuryDirect, and then link your bank account. You can select the duration of the bill you want to buy, and then once the rate is determined, they will withdraw that money from your bank account with a discount (the discount is what you get as interest). You can also select automatic reinvestment options in which then every time the bill matures, you get your interest payment deposited into your bank account. The shortest bill is 4 weeks, but you can pick slightly longer ones for better interest rates (even the 4-week one is above 5% right now). Since you are parking money in Morgan Stanley, this really isn't much different except you really can't pull the money out before the bill matures (unless you are affected by a public emergency). -- in some way, you can kind of consider TreasuryDirect as a separate bank account you are opening, and they are interacting with your linked bank account just like how you would do with your Amex savings (except there isn't ATM or any other access to the funds via that bank).
If you put it in a savings account, you will get a 1099-INT subject to federal and state taxes. But doing so is still better because you still get the engagement bonus if you paid your CashPlus monthly fees. It would be similar to case 2 except you paid more in taxes because 1099-INT is not exempt from local and state taxes.
The $55 should be a one-time deal, but I do not know if they will reset it if you go back to meeting your criteria again.
How about I put $25k in their CD account? Will I eligible for the bonus?
Thanks
Nope, you must use the CashPlus account that earns essentially no interest for you to be eligible for the bonus. You either pay $55 monthly for it without putting monies in or put $25k avg bal + $5k DD to waive the monthly fee.
i have a etrade broker account that is owned by morgan stanley should I apply for this card? and have the fee waived later?
I already have amex plat and amex charles schwab lmao.
You need an actual Morgan Stanley account to qualify.
For people who signed up around the time Morgan Stanley did their bait and switch, the 1099-MISC they sent for this year is incorrect and includes one additional CashPlus bonus you did not receive. They have just issued the corrected 1099-MISC for the correct amounts today.
For those going the route of paying the $55 monthly fee, because the engagement bonus is only effective for renewals, that would mean I would effectively pay $695 + $660 = $1355 for the first year, then every subsequent year would be $695 - $695 + $660 = $660? Unsure if I could justify paying the fees for the first year, or even parking $25k for a year to waive the $660.