Here’s a review on my primary discount brokerage firm, Zecco.
Fees/Commissions: Zecco offers $0 commissions up to 10 trades per day or 40 trades per month. Commission fees are $3.50 after the free trade requirement is met. Options trading is $3.50 + $0.60 per contract. They offer no-load mutual funds for $10 a transaction.
Investments Offered: Zecco offers basic investments including stocks, options, mutual funds and ETFs.
Platform Features: Zecco’s platform provides real-time quotes, graphs, and options chains. The more informal platform, myZecco, has forums and blogs for other investors/traders to swap ideas and questions. Zecco also has a small table below your main trade window with lines for various quotes that can be updated on the fly without having to leave the current screen.
Security: Zecco has two layers of security. First, you must access your myZecco page. From there, you can log in to any of your trading accounts using a different password. Zecco is also an SIPC member.
Ease of Use: Their trading platform was not as easy to use as TradeKing’s, but it’s sufficient for the first time investor. In order to join their money market sweep program, you must contact their customer service directly.
Support: Zecco’s main form of communication is via e-mail. They normally respond rather quickly during business hours. I did recieve an e-mail from Zecco once during the weekend so it does appear that they have a skeletal crew working the weekend shifts.
Pros
- Two layers of security
- ACH link was extremely quick (about 2 business days)
- Allow for beginning options trading with little to no investing experience
- FREE Commissions (as long as you don’t pass their limits)
- Money market sweeps average about 4%
- Daily snail mail transaction reports
Cons
- Money market sweeps requires minimum of $500 in your cash account to be eligible
- ACH deposits can take a couple of business days to clear
- Sales of equities can take a couple of business days to clear into your account
- Not the most appealing platform
- No after hours trading
Summary: Zecco appears to be gaining steam in the discount brokerage game. It’s very difficult to top a $0 commission fee on regular equities. Their options fees are also very low. Their ACH process was much quicker than TradeKing’s. Customer service has been quick to respond to my e-mails (less than 24 hours during business days). Zecco does not offer after hours trading (TradeKing does but requires you to call it in) which is either a blessing or a curse. There have been nights I wished I could have jumped in after hours. It does force some discipline though. Overall Zecco’s a very solid discount broker with great fees (or lack thereof). Remember though that you do get what you pay for. Don’t expect much in the way or aesthetics or research. The forums and blogs can be useful but I prefer other sites for my research and interaction with other investors.
Nice review. I have noticed the enhanced speed in response to queries from Zecco. It appears that staff is getting a lot better at answering requests.Once you setup your ACH, everything else becomes a lot easier. Zecco doesn’t send you through too many loops, except for during the initial sign-up process.On my blog, I explain the sign-up process from start to finish, just in case you get confused (not hard to do). Again, excellent review, and thanks for the tips!
Comment by zecco trading review — Thursday, July 5, 2007 @ 11:25 am
Jorge,
Thanks for your submission to the Festival of Stocks.
Great review. I was wondering about Zecco’s charges for NL mutual funds. Now I know
This post is included in the August 13, 2007 edition of the Festival.
Comment by Super Saver — Sunday, August 12, 2007 @ 6:09 pm
Rawr! Thanks for the acceptance! I’ve really enjoyed Zecco, but do you get what you pay for. They had some nasty downtime about two weeks ago. They were very quick to apologize, however, so little harm done. Good luck!
Comment by Jorge — Sunday, August 12, 2007 @ 6:12 pm
Don’t never ever open the account with them.
I open one and now i try to get my money out and run away.
- You can put money in easy , but out : no way
- The site is worst i never seen in my life (hard to use)
- the customer service is worst
- Not enough data for research
- Stay away from cheap stuff, they never last long and you will lose your your money (when they bankruptcy, shut down the site…and you can’t contact them)
Comment by Steve — Sunday, August 26, 2007 @ 1:57 pm
I’ve actually been using Zecco for a couple of months now. Besides an occasional hiccup here and there I haven’t had any major problems with them. Now, I haven’t attempted to withdraw funds from them since I haven’t had a need to at the moment. Their site is definitely not user friendly but I guess you get what you pay for. I’m not too worried if they do go bankrupt or merge with another company since they are a member of SIPC which is a major factor in any broker I do business with. I think we’ll know in a few months whether or not Zecco can survive on $0 commissions.
Comment by Jorge — Sunday, August 26, 2007 @ 2:51 pm
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We need men who can dream of things that never were. Their gift should be catered to that time of the day.
Comment by Rogelio Tilzer — Friday, August 6, 2010 @ 12:59 am