Online Broker Review

Updated Sunday, June 27, 2010

Account Opening Grade: A

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a new optionsXpress account and be in the money from the start

Overview:

The account registration process at optionsXpress is quite excellent. The initial forms can be quickly filled out and submitted via the optionsXpress website and there are no required paper forms or signatures of any kind. Users are immediately given access to the full optionsXpress website which is a nice perk. We were able to set up an electronic funds transfer between our checking account and optionsXpress and our account was fully functional and funded in only three business days. The optionsXpress account opening process receives our highest grade for its ease of use and quick turnaround time.

Details:

The optionsXpress welcome page. We selected the Open an Account link to begin the account opening process (click on images for larger views):

We chose to open a general investing account with margin and options trading access. There is no minimum initial deposit but a $2,000 account balance is required to maintain a margin account. To fund our account we chose to connect our checking account to optionsXpress. Other funding options include wire transfers, checks and Automated Customer Account Transfer (ACAT):

Other initial registration steps include providing basic background information, investment experience related questions, identity verification via a series of questions and several required electronic signatures. The entire initial account opening process took us only about 15 minutes and we were immediately able to log in to our new account and browse the various optionsXpress website features.

Once we completed the initial account registration steps we received an email notification. The following morning we received an account approval notification. That same day we received a voice mail noting that the electronic funds transfer verification process has been initialized and that our checking account would soon register two micro deposits. These deposits were recognized the following business day whereupon we verified their balances on the optionsXpress website. Once this was done, we were eligible to submit a funds transfer request. Once we did this, the funds were deposited into our optionsXpress account the following business day.

At that point our account was fully funded and functional. Total time required was a mere three business days - one of the best turn around times in the industry.

optionsXpress Account Opening