Pricing
Features
Customer Service
Ease of Use
Zecco Review
Zecco® is a deep discount brokerage that offers trades for a flat rate commission of $4.95 ($6.95 for equities priced under $1). While Zecco did used to offer slightly cheaper trades, and even free trades depending on your balance and activity, the new rate is still quite cheap.Zecco has no minimum funding level, and now has a FOREX trading solution.
The trading interface is a bit bare-bones compared to some more expensive brokers, but it gets the job done, and you can upgrade to various levels of streaming data and Level 2 quotes for a fee. The order entry interface is quite easy to use, and easy to get to. At the top of all of the “Trading Center” pages you will find the same order entry form. Fill in the boxes, click ‘preview order’, and you come to a page where you review the order cost. If all is well simply submit the order, and then go to the order status page to see its progress. When the status goes to ‘Accepted’ the order is in the hands of the market makers, usually NITE, and you should see your order pop up on a level 2 quote should it be the best bid or offer for the MM. Zecco is usually pretty quick to get the orders to market. PinkSheets can sometimes take 5-10 seconds longer. With routing through NITE you can also expect good fills most of the time. This is because NITE is a big market maker, and a lot of brokers go through NITE, thus there are usually good chunks of shares on the bid/ask that your order will match with quickly. If you’ve ever put in an order trying to get, or sell, shares via a different MM than your broker uses, you know that sometimes it can take upwards of a minute for execution.
One thing Zecco is missing is the ability to trade foreign stocks. You cannot buy or sell foreign stocks on Zecco, something that many clients are pushing for. You can identify a foreign stock by the F placed at the end of the 4 character stock symbol. One example is USSIF. If you see 5 characters, and the last one is an F, you won’t be able to trade it with Zecco. Luckily, foreign stocks make up a tiny fraction of all of the other stocks you can trade on Zecco. While you may miss out on a few opportunities, you won’t miss them all.
Research tools definitely leave something to be desired with Zecco, and while the available (with fee) data platforms are acceptable, they are not of the caliber that some other brokers offer… for free. Again, you have to remember that you are only paying $4.95 per trade. As with most things in life, ‘you get what you pay for’… The question you must make in selecting a broker is what features you need, and how you want to pay for them. Because of the low up-front trading commissions, we find Zecco to be a great broker to use in conjunction with a separate streaming data platform such as EquityFeed. If you are fairly active you will save a bunch of money on the trades, potentially covering or exceeding the cost of Equityfeed.
Zecco has an active trading community/forum which can help beginners get started on the right foot. Though we’ve heard complaints from others, customer service has always been good in our use, and we particularly like the live chat support. This option allows you to connect with support quickly and get most issues resolved without picking up a phone.
Opening a Zecco Account:
The application is fairly straight-forward, but not as simple and streamlined as some other brokers. The application process was revamped in 2007 to require little or no document submittal depending on the type of account and whether you have a Social Security number. If you are simply opening an individual account and have a SS#, then the application will be completely electronic. You should be able to complete the application within 10-15 minutes. Once you are approved you will have to set up an ACH relationship with your bank, which usually takes a day or two. Alternatively, for your first deposit you might opt to wire funds to the account. There is no minimum to open a cash account.
Available Equities and Commissions:
- Stocks/ETFs – $4.95 (For stocks and ETFs priced under $1.00, online trades are $6.95.) (19.99 Broker Assisted) – No trading of foreign or “F” stocks
- Options – $4.95 plus $0.65 per contract
- Mutual Funds – $10 No load
- Bonds – $4.50 per bond, $22.50 minimum per transaction
- Treasuries: $24.50 per transaction
- Forex – Available but through a separate Zecco Forex account
Other Details:
Annual/Maintenance Fees: None
Direct Access Trading: No
After Hours Trading: No
Penson Cleared: Yes
Software Platform Based Data/Trading: No
Web Based Streaming Data: Available
Level 2 Quotes: Available (including OTCBB/PinkSheet) with Quotestream II package.
Online Trading Community: Yes
Live Online Chat Support: Yes
Virtual/Paper Trading: Yes
Mobile Trading: iPhone App and Website via web-enabled phone
Zecco Account Pros:
-Low $4.95 flat rate stock commission ($6.95 for stocks/ETFs under $1)
-No penny stock surcharges after $6.95 rate
-Quick trade executions
-Lively online trading community
-Virtual/Paper trading to test strategies
-No maintenance/inactivity fees
-Streaming data packages and Level 2 quotes available
-Penson cleared brokerage
-iPhone App (new) – Zecco Mobile ‘Lite’ does not allow trading. Only monitoring at this point.
Zecco Account Cons:
-Website features and order entry/modification could be more streamlined
-Some complaints reported about customer support
-No automated tracking of number of day trades (PDT rule)
-ACH setup can be slow, requiring micro-deposit verification
-No after hours trading
-Cannot trade foreign stocks or “F” stocks
The Verdict:
Zecco is a fine option for stock traders looking for low commissions, fast executions, available streaming data packages, and perhaps an online community to gather knowledge and ideas. Relatively active traders will benefit from the lower trade commissions, but like we mentioned, you get what you pay for.. at a big brokerage you’ll pay more per trade, but get much more in free tools and data streams. You need to decide for yourself what pricing scheme fits your needs as a trader. Zecco is a good choice as a penny stock broker with the $6.95 flat rate commission for stocks priced under $1. Though experiences with customer service have been reportedly mixed, our recent dealings via phone and instant online chat have been positive and effective. You will always have unhappy customers, no matter what the broker is. We feel that Zecco is a good online brokerage that is striving to make improvements regularly – which is just another of many reasons to recommend them.
- Zecco Sign-up Promotion -
None at this time.
| Overall Rating |
December 1st, 2010 at 4:27 AM
I’ve used Zecco for three years now and while it’s not the prettiest broker I’ve experienced, it does get the job done. I trade penny stocks a lot and am very impressed with some of the fills I get. Several times I’ve grabbed shares before breakouts, caught bottoms, and sold tops on volatile stocks. With other brokers such as TDA I am positive these orders would likely have never filled. I don’t use any of the streaming data packages, but use EquityFeed like your review suggests. I was using EquityFeed with TDA because of the integration, but have found I can get better fills with Zecco even without the integration. You have to be quick with a mouse, but it is possible to beat the other traders. I’ve only had a few issues to contact customer service about, but have always gotten friendly reps who resolved the problem quickly.
January 17th, 2011 at 3:06 PM
I cannot purchase Foreign stocks via ZECCO at all. Have asked this for USSIF and others. They are not foreign stock friendly at all..