Zecco -- No trade commission?

[Towninvestor]

Hey guys.

I'm wondering if anyone uses Zecco. They're a new broker that started up recently with a zero trade commission policy. I am curious if anyone has used Zecco. How reliable are they? Do they do trades quickly? How usable is their interface? etc..


Thanks,

Towninvestor

[dirkuys]

I saw that too.... I just got to trust Trade King, it will take some time before I trust Zecco. I will not move over there now, NOTHING in life is for free.

[joshuat]

I've been using them for a few months. Trades have always been instanteous. Takes 2 days to get money from an ACH transfer.

What I don't like about them - poor research tools. The interface is very bad. For example, you get a "start of day" balance - how much cash you have in your account. But, if you have your cash swept into a money market (to get greater returns), that is not registered - you have to go to another page to see it. Then, as you execute trades, the balances are not updated. You have to do all the math by hand to figure out how much cash you have. Finally, ACH transfers don't show up in the start of day balance on the day it comes in, though you can go to another page and see that the money has been transferred. And, most of these require 'queries' - you don't just go to a page, but then you have to execute a query.

Now, I accept all of that for free trades. I have other brokerage accounts to do research from, and I don't trade frequently enough for the nonsense of the paragraph above to bother me much.

[InvestorTrip]

I use Zecco solely for taking advantage of the free trades.

Fidelity is my main full service broker, and I use them to conduct most of my research.

It's hard to beat free trades, plus the speedy customer service they provide. Also hear they are spending more money on employees to improve the trading tools & features available to customers.

Definitely worth opening an account now.

[Bigsnow Scott]

In my research, Zecco is in the lead by a nose. My priorities are: low fees, respectable interface, high Money Market available for the 'sitting in cash' times.

I like MBTrading for their access to 'hidden pools of liquidity' often resulting in better pricing. Their fees are competitive, although the lowest fees exclude access to the 'hidden pools of liquidity'. Their MM percentage is respectable. All they do is broker, no research or other data. The site has a professional no-nonsense feel, like they're there to get the job done, not bottom feed and give away freebies to get customers. In the end, I found other solid options and had no interest in having another app on the desktop.

TradeKing is the runner up so far. I like the interface, the tools and options data are great. They also have forums and a community. Pricing is competitive, except their money market rates are about a point lower then either MBTrading or Zecco.

Zecco has the most competitive pricing, the interface is acceptable, the community forums are up and running, trade 'quality' (meaning speed and fill price vs ask price) is on their radar screen, and their money market returns are above 4% (at Scudder). I'll be relying on YahooFinance for research and market data, both for securities, charts, and eventually options. Looks like I'll be opening up three accounts, one for IRA, RothIRA, and one taxable.

Nothing is free, however this is free to the user because the bill is being paid by others... ;)

Scott

[rei46]

I wonder how are they making a profit with no fee trades? Its true that nothing is free.

I'm willing to pay a fair price for something as important to me as my investing and retirement accounts. Branch offices and being able to talk to someone in person etc.

[go_ginger_go]

It's only the first 10 trades a month that are free (and that's only if you maintain the $2500 minimum net equity balance requirement)--the rest you have to pay for. Also, this applies only to your first account with them.

They say they are able to offer 10 free trades per month because the cost of excuting a trade is so low now and that they are making money from interest income and options trades.

Also, they do charge a $30 annual fee for retirement accounts. And they do charge $10 per mutual fund order.

[Bigsnow Scott]

Right, after the first 10 trades it's $4.50 per trade.

Also, they have categories of accounts eg 401k, Roth, open market, and the free trades apply to the first account in each category, subject to the minimum $2500 balance. Eventually I'll have a Roth, a 401k, and an open market account. If I maintain the balance in each, I'll have 30 free trades per month. Not that it's of interest, since I don't anticipate moving in and out of anything that often.

Also, they do offer a Money Market sweep feature, placing all free cash in a money market fund until it's sent into action in a security. Good for those droughts when Mr Market is pricing everything too high.