A trader is required to do a thorough fact check about the broker before investing with them. Here in our Firstrade review we have provided a quick glance at Firstrade’s working and trustworthiness.
Table of Contents
What is Firstrade?
Firstrade is a US based stock broker, regulated by the SEC and FINRA. It was founded under the name First Flushing Securities in the year 1985.
Firstrade offers free stock, ETF, mutual fund, and options trading. It covers only the US market.
Account Opening :
Firstrade is available for clients all over the world. Any one from any part of the world can open a Firstrade account. Account opening is fully digital and user friendly. But, it takes almost 3-4 days to verify an account.
What is the minimum deposit at Firstrade?
The minimum deposit is $0 for both U.S. and international clients. However, it can be more, if you trade on margin or prefer investing in portfolios.
Firstrade account types
| Business accounts |
| Retirement accounts (Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, etc.) |
| Education Savings Account |
| Firstrade Cash Management account |
| Regular Investing account (Individual & Joint) |
| International Accounts |
| Custodial account |
Firstrade Fees
Firstrade has low fees. It offers free stock, ETF, funds, and options trading with low non-trading fees. However, margin rates are high.
Firstrade – annual margin rate tiers
| Debit balance | Rate% | Base rate + / – |
| Under $10,000 | 8.75% | Base rate + 2.00% |
| $10,000 – $24,999 | 8.50% | Base rate + 1.75% |
| $25,000 – $49,999 | 8.25% | Base rate + 1.50% |
| $50,000 – $99,999 | 7.75% | Base rate + 1.00% |
| $100,000 – $249,999 | 7.25% | Base rate + 0.50% |
| $250,000 – $499,999 | 7.00% | Base rate + 0.25% |
| $500,000 – $999,999 | 5.10% | Base rate – 1.65% |
| $1,000,000 or more | 4.50% | Base rate – 2.25% |
Deposit and Withdrawal:
Firstrade has a user friendly deposit and withdrawal process. It charges no deposit and withdrawal charges. But you can use only bank transfer, it does not support credit/debit card and eWallet transactions. And it charges a high fee for wire withdrawal.
It only has a currency as a base for opening an account i.e, USD.
US domestic wire transfers cost $30, while international withdrawals cost $35.
Trading Platform:
Firstrade offers two types of trading platforms: Mobile based and web based. Both the platforms have the same functionality and a great search function. Mobile applications are available for both IOS and Android.
Both the platforms are available in three different languages: English, Mandarian and Cantonese. You can trade only stocks, ETFs and options on mobile platform, which is limited compared to web trading platform.
Products:
Firstrade offers trade in stock, ETF, fund, bond and options. Whereas, it does not provide access to forex, futures, CFD and crypto.
Asset Portfolio
| Stock markets (#) | 5 |
| ETFs (#) | 2300 |
| Fund providers (#) | 420 |
| Bonds (#) | 38,500 |
| Options | – |
Customer Support :
You can contact Firstrade via:
- chatbot (intelligent FAQ)
- Phone
You can contact customer support from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm EST, between Monday and Friday.
Education :
Firstrade is clearly a beginner friendly platform. It provides a great amount of educational tools, webinars and live tutorials. However, it does not provide any demo account for practise. It also provides access to podcasts and ebooks for education purposes.
Safety :
Firstrade is considered safe, first, because it is regulated by top tier US financial institutions. And second, then customers come under consumer protection act (SIPC). The limit of SIPC protection is $500,000, which includes a $250,000 limit for cash. It also has a long financial history which also makes it a more reliable and genuine broker to trade with.
| Pros | Cons |
| Free stock, ETF, fund and options trading | No credit/debit cards and electronic wallets for money transfer |
| Solid research tools | High margin rates |
| Low non-trading fees | High outgoing wire transfer fee |
| Fully digital | Phone support didn’t connect anyone |
| Good search function | No demo account |
The verdict:
Firstrade offers free stock, ETF, mutual funds, and options trading. It doesn’t charge inactivity and account fees, and there are lots of quality research and educational tools you can use.
There are some drawbacks, though. Firstrade doesn’t accept credit/debit cards and electronic wallets for money transfer. The product portfolio covers only the US market. Customer service is only available 24/5 and it is difficult to contact them via phone at once.
As it has low fees and no inactivity fee is charged, feel free to try Firstrade.
Firstrade Review
Pros
- Free stock, ETF, fund and options trading
- Solid research tools
Cons
- High margin rates
- High outgoing wire transfer fee
