With a TD Ameritrade Izone account you can attain flat-fee $5 stock trades. It is an outstanding service available which I use personally myself, and really adds a powerful punch to TD Ameritrade's reign as a top online stock broker. Most people wonder why they have never heard of this Izone service before, and that is simply because TD Ameritrade doesn't advertise it... at all.
The Izone Service
How TD Ameritrade can offer $5 flat fee trades is by elimating a lot of the extra jargon they offer with their regular accounts. For starters, all service communication is via email and they don't advertise the service. Several dollars per trade out of the $9.99 regular commissions goes into advertising online, so that alone is a big cost saver. Secondly, all trades are placed through the internet, so no broker assisted trades through phone. Thirdly, your account must be margin approved and all trades are executed out of house, meaning they are sent directly to the market.
With this setup, Izone users than are granted $5 flat-fee trades which includes after hours trading, no maintenance fees, real-time processing, and more.
In Summary (bullet points taken from website):
You receive:
- $5 online and IVR stock orders (includes market, limit, stop, short sells, odd-lot and OTCBB orders)
- Extended-Hours Trading for $5
- Regular Market + Extended-Hours in one order for $5
- No maintenance fee
- No per-share charge
- Short sells in extended hours
- Online and IVR options commission at $5 + $0.75 per contract
- Complex options tickets
- Mutual fund orders for $17.99
- Real-time processing
- Wireless trading
- Access to a broker at a higher commission
In exchange for these Izone attributes:
- You manage your account and assume your own risk
- All service communication is via e-mail
- Initial account funding is by ACH (Automated Clearing House), bank wire or brokerage transfer
- You maintain an account value of at least $5,000
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All this is correct! But what really frosts me is izone won't accept tax deferred accounts. They make a stupid comment about - it's all the reporting. The reporting for tax deferred is MUCH less. Once a year, they tell the IRS the value of your account. ONE NUMBER A YEAR. On "regular" accounts they issue a year end statement with sale by security, basis by security, dividends, interest received, paid, foreign taxes paid..... I wish izone would tell us the real business reason izone won't accept tax deferred accounts.
Emailed them, let's see what they say
Izone has some other differences too. Their "bells and whistles" are cut a little thinner. Here's the transcript from the chat I just had with a rep there.
http://mytradersjournal.com/stock-options/2007/10/30/td-ameritrade-izone-worth-savings-discount-stock-broker/
Just tried to sign up for the Izone and was turned down without even being told why. What the heck is up with that?
Hi Daniel,
From what I understand you already have to have a broker account somewhere else with established history of atleast a year, and you need to be approved for margin right off the bat. If you don't meet either of these qualifications then you will be denied into the program.
Hope that helps!
It looks like they killed izone?
Wow you may be right. Note though I have an Izone account and have not received any email saying they are discontinuing service... No news on the matter either, weird that they would change the homepage though to the standard TDA homepage...