Recommended for stock trading and basic options trading, not recommended for IRA account holders
Company Background:
Zecco (short for Zero Commission Costs) was founded by Jeroen Veth in February 2006. The Zecco online community was launched on July 4th while online trading went live on October 9th of the same year. Since that time, Zecco has grown in size to 175,000 account holders.
As the name implies, Zecco used to offer unlimited no commission trading. At one point, this was reduced to 10 free trades per month with those having account balances of $25,000 or greater. Effective March 30, 2011, Zecco will no longer offer any free trades. We submit that it may be time for Zecco to change their name (we are kidding...kind of).
Zecco is privately held and headquartered in Burlingame, California. Michael Raneri is the company's CEO. Its clearing firm is Penson Financial Services, Inc.
Platforms:
- Website: www.zecco.com
- Advanced Trading Platform: No
- Mobile Website: No
- iPhone App: Yes
- Android / BlackBerry Apps: No
Review Summary:
Despite the fact that Zecco is raising its stock and options trading commissions effective March 30, 2011 and are no longer offering free trades, Zecco's commissions and fees are still very competitive. One catch is that IRA accounts must pay a $30 yearly account fee. This disqualifies Zecco as a recommended broker for IRA accounts. Moving beyond the fees, Zecco has a good registration process and high quality stock trading engine. The options trading engine is adequate for basic order types but those who utilize complex option trading strategies should look elsewhere. Research tools are extremely extensive and feature some very useful tools. The iPhone app is well designed but currently does not offer either stock or options trading. Zap Trade is an innovative Firefox plugin that makes trading directly from stock market research websites quick and easy. Zecco has been steadily improving their service over the years and have gone from being a good discount broker to being a good broker period.
Detailed Reviews by Category:
- Registration: B
- Stock Trading: B
- Options Trading: C
- Charts: C
- Research Tools: A
- iPhone App: C
- Zap Trade
- Zecco Wall Street Facebook App
- Commissions and Fees: Pass, except for IRA account holders
- Margin Rates
- Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs): Yes
- Extended Hours Trading: No
- Tax Reporting
- Mint.com Compatibility: Yes
- Wikinvest Compatibility: No
- Clearing Firms
See our Summary Reviews Page to compare Zecco with other brokers