American Express has retooled its cobranded credit card for Morgan Stanley brokerage customers, replacing a points-based rewards program with a simpler cash-back offering.
The product is a continuation of a pandemic-era trend of offering credit card customers cash rewards instead of points good toward travel and entertainment.
The Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred American Express is the first product for which the partners have offered cash rewards, Amex said Wednesday.
The companies will no longer market the nine-year-old Morgan Stanley Credit Card from American Express, which enables users to earn Amex Membership Rewards points, an Amex spokesperson said. Amex has made no changes to a separate cobranded Morgan Stanley Platinum Amex card.
“Consumers are heading toward cash-back in their preference for rewards,” said Brian Riley, director of credit card advisory at Mercator Advisory Group, noting that spending volume on travel cards is not back to pre-pandemic levels.
“There is still a long way to go back to normal, which is why cash-back rewards are outpacing other redemption options,” Riley said.
Amex is offering a $300 signup bonus for users who spend $3,000 in the first six months, the company said in a press release. Users earn 6% cash back on purchases of groceries and streaming services, 3% cash back on gasoline and transit and 1% for all other purchases. A $120 annual credit toward an Equinox+ gym membership is also included.
