by 8 people |
Zero Commission Trades - Is it too good to be true??
Zecco stands for Zero Cost Commission and that's exactly what this new online discount broker is trying to do with their innovative set up.
How to Open a Zecco Account
Reviewing the Zecco Account Opening Process
This is a short time line of opening my zecco account and what has happened at each step along the way.
Getting a Zecco Account : Day 1
The Beginning of the process
Day 1 : I applied for the account. The application process was entirely online and probably took about 15 minutes total. You do have to provide your social security number to them over a secure connection in order to verify your identity. Overall, I found filling out the application essentially the same as the ones for SogoInvest, Scottrade, or TradeKing. Pretty Standard Industry-wide it seems.
Less than 10 minutes later I had an account approval email sitting in my Inbox. However, this does NOT mean you can instantly log into your account. I suppose that Zecco's Servers have to do an update. About 3 hours after I received the e-mail, my account number was listed in parenthesis after the words 'individual account' like this:
Once my account number showed up here I was able to log on normally and access the account.
Less than 10 minutes later I had an account approval email sitting in my Inbox. However, this does NOT mean you can instantly log into your account. I suppose that Zecco's Servers have to do an update. About 3 hours after I received the e-mail, my account number was listed in parenthesis after the words 'individual account' like this:
Once my account number showed up here I was able to log on normally and access the account.
Zecco Review: Day 1 Continues.... Add ACH Accounts
Adding a Bank account to your Zecco Account
From here I added my Bank Account. This was simple and only took a few minutes. Here's what you do:
Click on the Funding and Transfers Tab:
On the Left hand side of the screen is an option to 'Add External ACH Account'
Here are the steps to get to the screen where you input bank information.
From there it was easy to add my bank account information and wait for my deposits. I added one checking and one Savings account to see if that made a difference.
Day One is in the books and the Account is Open and Bank Accounts are being set up. Not to Shabby!
Click on the Funding and Transfers Tab:
On the Left hand side of the screen is an option to 'Add External ACH Account'
Here are the steps to get to the screen where you input bank information.
From there it was easy to add my bank account information and wait for my deposits. I added one checking and one Savings account to see if that made a difference.
Day One is in the books and the Account is Open and Bank Accounts are being set up. Not to Shabby!
Zecco Review : Day 2: ACH Deposits Completed!
Zecco Review Funds Transfer Timeline
I woke up this morning and checked my bank accounts to see if the ACH Deposits had processed. They were already there!
Remember, Zecco will debit the deposits after you confirm the amounts with them. Depending on the type of savings account or money market account you have, you may have a limited number of withdraws per billing cycle. These will count towards that limit.
Another Minor gripe so far. I scheduled my transaction, but I haven't figured out a way to track my pending transaction.
I'll let everyone know when the deposit hits and we can begin testing out the trading interface!
Another Minor gripe so far. I scheduled my transaction, but I haven't figured out a way to track my pending transaction.
I'll let everyone know when the deposit hits and we can begin testing out the trading interface!
Zecco Video Review
A Video Review of Zecco Trading
Zecco.com launches on Wall Street
automatically generated by YouTube
Learn How to Trade Stocks on Zecco
Stock Trading Education Material
Learn how to trade stocks. Take it slow and move at your own pace. Zero cost commissions at Zecco
are a good way to get your feet wet.
The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing
This is a fantastic beginners resource for investing. It has helpful tips for anyone learning to invest.
Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 11/25/2009) 
Zecco Review Day 4: ACH Continued...
Trouble Using Zecco.com ACH Money Transfer
I looked in the transfer log and it showed my ACH Transfer as approved on one line and denied on the next. The time stamps for the transfer to zecco are identical, which is even weirder. I've decided to try to run the transaction one more time before I call customer service. I think the transaction may have been declined because the trial ACH deposits were still pending on my account when I initiated the transfer....
Zecoo Review Day 6 : Ready to Trade!
One Week from Sign up to Trade
Well, after some confusion with transfers and my eagerness, I ended up with two transfers in my account :). The original deposit began clearing after the test deposits cleared. I had initiated the transfer as soon as the deposits were pending. So this was not Zecco's fault, in typical fashion I got a little eager and jumped the gun. Now that we are ready to rock, we will begin exploring the features next week! I also have a Dividend Investment Strategy I want to try out that I will explain in conjunction with the features of Zecco.
What to Do after opening a New Zecco Account
Sign up for the Money Market Account! Remember No Minimum Balance Required!
After Opening my account and having it funded, there are two important new developments that I have learned about.
The first is that Zecco no longer has any account minimums! One of the major criticisms that had existed for Zecco was that the minimum balance to open was $2,500 which made it difficult to set up and account just to 'try it out'. Apparently that has all changed!
From the FAQ:
What is the minimum amount required to open an account?
Zip, nada: there's no minimum deposit required to open an account. Margin accounts require $2,000 minimum.
Secondly, Zecco Offers a Money Market Sweep Account. However, you are not automatically enrolled in it. In order to enroll, fill out this form and fax or e-mail it back to Zecco. These rates are actually quite competitive and change frequently to reflect the market.
Update: The money market does not become active unless there is at least $500 in cash in your account.
The first is that Zecco no longer has any account minimums! One of the major criticisms that had existed for Zecco was that the minimum balance to open was $2,500 which made it difficult to set up and account just to 'try it out'. Apparently that has all changed!
From the FAQ:
What is the minimum amount required to open an account?
Zip, nada: there's no minimum deposit required to open an account. Margin accounts require $2,000 minimum.
Secondly, Zecco Offers a Money Market Sweep Account. However, you are not automatically enrolled in it. In order to enroll, fill out this form and fax or e-mail it back to Zecco. These rates are actually quite competitive and change frequently to reflect the market.
Update: The money market does not become active unless there is at least $500 in cash in your account.
Zecco Money Market Account Sign up Form
Good things to have when you are starting your Zecco Account
Links to those pesky forms and files you can never seem to find....
- Money Market Sweep Form
- Make sure and fill this form out and send it in to enroll in the Money Market Sweep Account. You are not Automatically enrolled in this!
Trading with Zecco's Web Platform - A Review
Review of Zecco's Trading Platform
During the first day my zecco account was open I made 4 trades on the Zecco Platform. I bought 4 shares of 4 different dividend stocks ranging from small with low volume to high with large volume. Here's how the trading works:
Step One: Order Entry
The Order Entry Interface is not rocket science to figure out and I found it to be responsive and easy to use.
You do Have a surprising large number of the types of trades you can perform with a basic zecco brokerage account including: Market, Limit, Stop, Stop Limit, Trailing Stop. You can perform any of these types that are applicable when Buying, Selling, Shorting, or covering. Considering I don't feel that I am a sophisticated enough technical investor yet to need much more than the Buy and Sell buttons, this was great.
(Note: You have way more options with Zecco than with SogoInvest, which only offers buying and selling with market and limit orders as far as I can tell in my 6 months there)
After quoting your order you are taken to this screen:
Step One: Order Entry
You do Have a surprising large number of the types of trades you can perform with a basic zecco brokerage account including: Market, Limit, Stop, Stop Limit, Trailing Stop. You can perform any of these types that are applicable when Buying, Selling, Shorting, or covering. Considering I don't feel that I am a sophisticated enough technical investor yet to need much more than the Buy and Sell buttons, this was great.
(Note: You have way more options with Zecco than with SogoInvest, which only offers buying and selling with market and limit orders as far as I can tell in my 6 months there)
After quoting your order you are taken to this screen:
Zecco Trading Review Continued
The Rest of the Trading Process using Zecco
This screen shows you the Bid/Ask Spread (This one is really high because the market was closed when I took this shot. It's usually a couple of pennies difference) If everything looks okay, you click on 'Send Order'. Every time I did this, (One Market and Three Limit Trades) before I could click on the Executions tab, the order was executed. I would say the average order time was not able to be measured by me. Very Impressive!
After you make a trade your order shows up in a Positions screen as follows:
Not a lot of crazy analysis tools but I use Yahoo Finance for most of my analysis anyway, why do I need two sets of the same data??
Overall I was very Impressed with the speed of the order execution. For my purposes it was more than adequate.
After you make a trade your order shows up in a Positions screen as follows:
Not a lot of crazy analysis tools but I use Yahoo Finance for most of my analysis anyway, why do I need two sets of the same data??
Overall I was very Impressed with the speed of the order execution. For my purposes it was more than adequate.
Zecco Reviews From Across the Blogosphere
The newest Blog Posts on Zecco
- How to get a USA stock trading account for NYSE shares in the USA ...
- Research In Motion (RIMM) Credit Suisse upgrades to outperform from neutral Following an extensive review of the smartphone market, Credit Suisse analyst Kulbinder Garcha upgraded shares of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, as well as raised his earnings ... My trading partner has just switched to Zecco.com & he is pretty happy. Have a look around & find the right one for you. There is an Australian broker - http://www.spectrumlive.com which you should have a look at. ...
- Online Broker Review: Zecco Options Trading
- Trading options at Zecco is an average experience. The trading menus are simple yet effective. Entering new trades from trade ticket or closing out existing positions from the positions menu is well done. ... Covered Call (one stock + one option) - Go long stock and sell call option. Long/Short Rollout (two options) - Cover one option and initiate a different option of later expiration. Married Put (one stock + one option) - Go long stock and buy put option. Details: ...
- Zecco Review: Free Online Trading with Zecco
- Our Zecco Review. Pricing: Free Online Trading and Ultra Low Commissions! Do you know where Zecco got it's name? It stands for ?zero commission cost?. Zecco is known first and foremost for their ?free stock trades? mantra. ...
- Discover Now the Zecco Stock Trading Options!
- They have different types of stock trading, attracting the most through their pricing options and rapid execution of orders. A Zecco review can be pretty useful when it comes to finding our detailed information about this company. ...
Popular Zecco sites
Zecco Links and review Resources
As hard as I try, I'm sure there will be something that I can't address fully here. Hopefully some of these links will help
- Zecco Homepage
- The Homepage of Zecco. When it's free to sign up and trade, might as well give them a shot.
The Top 10 Zecco Improvements of 2007
Zecco has added a lot to their features since the beginning of '07
From the people I've talked to along the way about Zecco, I've gathered that one of the major gripes that many people had was the lack of features and the difficulty of navigation around the site. You were definitely not alone! I also noticed these same things.
But looking back on 2007, Zecco has seemed to have listened to these complaints and taken them to heart. These are my top 10 improvements to Zecco in 2007. Enjoy!
But looking back on 2007, Zecco has seemed to have listened to these complaints and taken them to heart. These are my top 10 improvements to Zecco in 2007. Enjoy!
- New Navigation - Added drop downs and left hand side menus make finding what you want a ton easier.
- Site Search - Google Powered search site wide makes it way easier to find that form or FAQ you were looking for.
- Always on Trading Ticket - Being able to enter your order from any screen is pretty nice.
- Gainskeeper Powered Tax Tracking - I am a numbers nerd so any improved performance tracking is a huge plus in my book
- Complex Options - I'm not much of an options trader myself, but I think it shows Zecco's commitment to establishing itself as a full service broker.
- Stock Screener - Needs no explanation
- Options Analytics - Stock Screening Goodness applied to Options.
- Performance Scanner - See what's working and what's not with other members of the ZeccoShare community
- Zecco Share Feeds - Tracking your group's activities without having to visit the site is great.
- Faster Load Times - Who doesn't like this?
Some Other Personal Finance Info
Finance and Investing Advice to Use with Zecco
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The Investor News Network: All the Investment News in One Place
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The Investor News Network is a compilation of all the latest investment articles from across the web. No need to find investing news articles from multiple websites when they are all aggregated right here!
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TradeKing Review
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This is a complete TradeKing Review including features, accounts, and company history. TradeKing Broke Onto the Discount Broker scene in Late 2005 with something rave reviews and something that had never been seen before by a reliable company - Sub...
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Dave Ramsey
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Dave Ramsey is a nationally syndicated radio show host, speaker, author, father, and husband. He teaches a fundamental concept of personal finance that he believes very strongly in : Staying Debt Free will lead to a more successful life. How to get t...
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Debt Free and Proud!
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Note: This lens is written by my fiancee. So you have found yourself up to your eyeballs in debt. You are no longer thinking about what else you can buy - you are just worrying about how you are going to make your payments. Or maybe you ca...
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Mvelopes Budgeting Software
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In this day and age of "I want it now," you may find yourself a little behind the eight ball. You've been thinking about how much you can afford a monthly payment rather than how much something really costs. Before you know it,...
Reader Thoughts on Zecco
How do you Like Zecco? Is it working for you? Is it not?
submit
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Reply
- Bill M Bill M Dec 13, 2008 @ 8:41 am
- I have been with zecco since may 2008 and I am extremely happy with them.
http://www.questempire.com
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Reply
- Nov 5, 2008 @ 9:44 am
- First time I heard about this through your lens. Sounds good and promising. Thank you.
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Reply
- Jason Jason Sep 15, 2008 @ 12:03 pm
- This is good information. I suggest ignoring the bait and switch comment because you do get 10 free trades per month, then it only costs $4.50 after that.
I've used Zecco for about a year now and the page navigation has been redesigned for the better. I have also used Trade King and Scottrade. Zecco is just as good and cheaper, although you will have to pay for the gainskeeper service if you want it.
Jason
www.thenetanalyst.com
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Reply
- Dawson Jones Dawson Jones Feb 19, 2008 @ 8:12 am
- A bait and switch? Don't be so paranoid, hey if they raise the rates, transfer to another place. Plus there getting very popular with commercials.
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Reply
- Nick Jensen Nick Jensen Dec 22, 2007 @ 3:08 pm
- I researched Zecco and decided it was a bait and switch. I signed up with scottrade.com and got 3 free trades with this promo code: DOOL8293
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