I finally got around to taking a deeper look into the Zecco   platform as well as the account opening process. So far, so good. Opening my account at Zecco took just over 7 minutes, and was completely done online. No forms to fax, no signatures to mail in. All good stuff. I hate it when I “sign up online” and then still have to print crap out to start a service.


When opening your account:

  • Have your Driver’s license and SSN handy
  • Keep in mind you must deposit (at some point, not right away) $2500 to receive the 10 free trades a month offer

Once you complete all the forms online, you’ll receive a message stating your account will be reviewed in the next 24-48 hours. I got an approval notice within 15 minutes. Guess it pays to fill out all the forms correct : )

Reviewing The Zecco Platform

Zecco.com   is an online brokerage and investment community embracing the Web 2.0 mindset.  The company (whose name is a clever abbreviation of zero commission) first embraced one of the major tenets of the open Web — making it free! Once customer fears were assuaged that their free trades came with no catch, Zecco combined that offer with a rich interface, and they grew steadily in customers

The account center is pretty straight forward. Entering basic stock transactions looks easy enough. While I haven’t funded my account yet, I’ve heard that they have pretty fast order execution, which is important when trading online. Also, they have pretty decent options pricing, which is likely what I’ll be using my account here for at some point in the future.

In 2008, Zecco added the following features:

  • Improved Stock Screener - Find stocks using Zecco’s stock screener with over 30 different search criteria
  • Powerful Options Analytics Tool - Suited for sophisicated options traders who use probability calculators, profit-and-loss calculators, volatility chains, and more.

Zecco…Recommend or not?

It’s hard to beat Zecco’s price structure and speed. I’ve heard rumblings about their customer service, but so far my account setup and activation has been a breeze. Once I have the cash together I’ll likely use Zecco as my primary options broker, and probably as my short term stock broker as well.

Zecco has also implemented a rich user community featuring standard social features of friends, groups, and forums and more clever features like personal blogs, news feeds, and performance metrics. Furthermore, ZeccoShare, Zecco’s free trading community, alllows fellow Zecco members to share information and profit from each other using performance tracking, forums, blogs, etc.  They’ve done well in balancing privacy with publicly sharing personal data. For example, customers can opt-in to share their trading data. Customers can then be ranked on performance, and others can follow their buys and sells, leading to more engaged customers.

I consider Zecco a leader of bringing practical rich interactivity to financial services online. They’ve made mistakes, but earned much customer trust by reacting quickly to suggestions and concerns. While other complementary Web 2.0 money properties like Mint, Wesabe, and Billmonk continue to innovate, Zecco has affirmed its position as the trading home for the 2008 online investor.  Therefore, Opening a Zecco account to take advantage of $0 Stock/ETF trades is a smart idea. Free stock trades preserve more of your wealth, and save you money that can be reinvested instead of paid out in brokerage commissions.

Zecco is great for:

- Day Traders - Up to 40 free traders per month, then $3.50 after that

- College Students - Invest on a shoestring without worrying about commissions

- Frugal Investors - Why pay more than you have to?