October 12, 2006
NOTHING COSTS MORE THAN IT USED TO:
Price war erupts as Bank of America offers free online stock trades (Matt Krantz, 10/11/06, USA TODAY)
Bank of America (BAC) stunned the online brokerage industry Wednesday by offering free stock trades to anyone who has $25,000 in a checking, savings or money market account at the bank. That came just days after Ontario, Calif.-based upstart Zecco.com offered free trades to anyone with a $2,500 account.Online brokers suddenly find themselves under attack in a price war. That's a reversal of the dot-com boom, when online brokers such as TD Ameritrade (AMTD) and E-Trade (ET) stormed Wall Street by offering commissions just a fraction of those charged by big brokers.
And now the likes of E-Trade and Ameritrade could be pressured to come up with their own free-trade offers, says David Trone, analyst at Fox-Pitt Kelton.
Hopefully ATM fees are next. Posted by Orrin Judd at October 12, 2006 8:18 AM
Comments
Just try using a B of A Visa credit card at a B of A terminal -- even though it's their card and their terminal, I think they get enough ATM fees off those alone to subsidize their free stock trade offer.
Posted by: John at October 12, 2006 9:33 AM
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