No more free trading at Zecco for everyone
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009Zecco, the online broker that let you trade stocks for free until now, has announced a new pricing structure.
Starting on March 1, Zecco’s fees will depend on your assets or on the total number of trades you make in a given month - similar to the commission structure of other online brokers. If you have more than $25,000 in your account or if you trade at least 25 times per month, you still get 10 trades per month for free. If not, each trade will cost you $4.50.
According to the CEO, the change became necessary because of the low interest rates that reduce profits that Zecco generates from its deposits. In addition, trading volume has apperently fallen at Zecco, which leads to lower commission revenues.
It’s unfortunate that this became necessary, as Zecco was one of the few places beginning investors could get started without losing their shirt on commissions. That said, at $4.50 per trade, Zecco is still a pretty good deal.