Morgan Stanley card - get cashback (Morgan Stanley Dean Witter)

Member Name: depurple2

Product:	Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
Date:	03/10/06 (840 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cashback, can manage account online, looks nice

Disadvantages: Have to wait on the phone for ages to speak to customer services

The Morgan Stanley Platinum card credit card is a nice looking card which comes in silver or black (you can choose). It does not charge an annual fee, and the APR is currently 15.9%.

Benefits

As I pay my balance off each month, the reason I got this card was because it had the best introductory cashback offers at the time. The normal cashback offer is 1% for your first £2000 of purchases each year, plus 0.5% for all purchases in excess of £2000. This may not seem like much, but by putting everything on my card I got a cheque for a nice amount at the end of the year. It did take a few weeks to arrive though - first they sent me a letter congratulating me on my cashback, so I rang them and said it hadn't actually arrived. Oh, they said, we haven't sent it yet - apparently I had to wait 4-6 weeks. Not sure what the point of the first letter was then.

Morgan Stanley have a guarantee against online fraud - you won't be responsible for payments if someone steals your card details. I haven't had to test this yet, luckily.

You can also get a cheap balance transfer - the APR is cheaper but be warned that they will charge a 1% fee on top.


Managing your account

I manage my account online through the Morgan Stanley website. It is easy to set up (you can choose your own user ID and password) and straightforward to use.
You can view all of my past statements, and print them out, and you can also export the details of the statement to Microsoft Money or Quicken.

You can also pay your bill online using a debit card - you get a page to print off in case you have a query in the future.

I have also paid over the phone by debit card in the past, once I found my way round the automated phone system.

One thing to watch is the due date on the bill. The money may be due by this date, but you will need to pay it at least 2 days before this, or you will get charged a late fee (currently £12) plus interest. The quickest method is to pay be telephone (2 days in advance). If you pay online, you need to do this 4 days before the due date.

You can use the online system to apply for:
A card for an additional cardholder (free)
Payment protection (76p per £100 of balance per month) - this covers you if you are unable to pay your balance due to illness, or pays the balance if you die.
Card protection (£20 per year) - covers you against fraud (online fraud is covered without paying this fee), having to get all your cards reissued, provides an emergency loan if you lose your money and cards abroad and sorts out changes of address - for up to 5 people in your household.
Travel Insurance - policies from £45, so not the cheapest on the market.


Customer Services

I have called customer services on several occasions. It is a freephone number, although you still get charged if you call from a mobile. It is definitely worth trying to find a landline to call from, as you will be on the phone for AGES.

First you have to key in your account number, then your date of birth. They the automated system gives you whole bunch of information (balance on card, how much you have left to spend this month, etc) that you probably didn't want to know anyway. There is no way to skip this part. Then it is a case of trying to guess the right option to get through to a real person. If you are eventually lucky enough to get through to a real person, in my experience, they are usually quite helpful. The advice has been good, and I haven't been told anything incorrect yet.

Summary: Worth getting if you pay your balance off each month