ChoiceTrade Review 2019

ChoiceTrade is a US-based stock broker founded in 2000. ChoiceTrade is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). It is also a member of SIPC. SIPC membership means that clients are eligible for the SIPC investor protection scheme which offers up to $500,000 (cash up to $250,000) per account.

While it is not listed on any stock exchanges and it doesn't have a bank background ChoiceTrade is considered safe because it has a long track record, is regulated by top-tier regulators, and discloses annual financial statements.

Recommended for stock and options traders aiming for low trading fees and focusing on the US market.

ChoiceTrade pros and cons

ChoiceTrade offers a commission-free stock trading. The account opening is user-friendly, fully digital, and fast. This is not usual for US brokers. Lastly, the mobile trading platform is user-friendly.

ChoiceTrade charges a high withdrawal fee, $60 for non-Us citizens and $35 for US citizens. There is also a high inactivity fee, $20-30 per quarter. The deposit and withdrawal are not user-friendly and you can use only bank transfer. The product portfolio limited, you can trade only with stock, ETF, and options.

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ChoiceTrade review
Fees 4 stars

ChoiceTrade has low trading fees, you can even trade commission-free stocks. On the flip side, the non-trading fees are high.

We ranked ChoiceTrade's fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.

To get things rolling, let's go over some lingo relating to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees, financing rates, and non-trading fees.

• Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions or spreads.
• Financing rates or overnight rates are charged when you hold your leveraged positions for more than a day. A leveraged position means that you borrow money from the broker to trade.
• Non-trading fees include things like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

We also compared ChoiceTrade's fees with those of two ChoiceTrade alternatives we selected, Tradestation and Interactive Brokers. This selection is based on factors like products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc.

Let's start with the trading fees.

Trading fees

ChoiceTrade has low trading fees.

There are more fee structures you can choose from both at stocks and options. We calculated with the default fee structures, i.e. the commission-free Stock Plan A and the Options Plan A. It is great that you can easily change the fee structure at the Account Management.

Stock fees and ETF fees

ChoiceTrade has generally low stock trading fees. If you trade with listed stocks, there are two stock fee structures you can choose from:

• Stock Plan A: commission-free stock trading, but there is a $5 monthly account fee
• Stock Plan B: $5 per trade and there is no monthly account fee

If you trade with not listed stocks, the commission is $7 per trade.

We calculated with the Stock Plan A as it is the default fee structure. If you prefer trading less frequently and with bigger ticket sizes, the Stock Plan B is better for you.

Options fees

ChoiceTrade options fees are generally low. Similarly to stocks, you can choose from two fee structures:

• Options Plan A: $5 per trade plus $0.15 per contract
• Options Plan B: $10 per trade plus $0 per contract

We calculated with the Options Plan A as it is the default fee structure. If you prefer trading less frequently and with bigger ticket sizes, the Options Plan B is better for you.

Financing rates

ChoiceTrade financing rates are generally high.

Financing rates are charged when you hold your leveraged positions for more than a day. It can be a significant proportion of your trading costs.

The financing rate is calculated as the FED funds rate plus 6%. To make comparable the financing rate with other brokers' financing rates, we used the FED overnight rate as of 26 October 2018. 

Non-trading fees

ChoiceTrade has high non-trading fees. It charges a high inactivity fee, withdrawal fee, and account fee at the default Stock Plan A. There is also a fee for setting up international or corporate  accounts.

The account fee is $5 per month at the default fee structures. You can avoid the monthly fee if you choose other than the default fee structures.

ChoiceTrade charges inactivity fee if you trade less than 5 per quarter. It varies at the different fee structures: $20 per quarter at the Stock Plan and $35 per quarter at Stock Plan B.

There is also a high withdrawal fee, $60 for non-US citizens and $35 for US citizens.

If you open your account outside the US or open a corporate account, ChoiceTrade charges a one-off fee. It is $25 for individual foreign accounts and $100 for corporate accounts.

ChoiceTrade review
Account opening 5 stars

Opening an account at ChoiceTrade is easy, fast and fully digital for both US and international citizens.

Can you open an account?

ChoiceTrade is a US broker, but clients from all over the world can open an account.

There are ~90 countries where clients can't open accounts. Just to mention a few: Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc.

What is the minimum deposit at ChoiceTrade?

The required ChoiceTrade minimum deposit is $100. It is not a big deal, especially if you compare with brokers requiring more than $2,000 as a minimum deposit.

Account types

ChoiceTrade has 5 types of accounts:

Specialty accounts can be opened only offline. It is not convenient and should be online similar to other account types.

How to open your account

The account opening is user-friendly, fully digital, and fast. It took 2 days for us. This is not usual for US brokers.

At first, you have to go through a few steps registration process which takes roughly 20 minutes. During this registration, you have to provide some personal information and there are trading experience questions.

At the end of this process, you have to verify your identity and residency by uploading a scan of the following documents:

• ID / passport / driver's license for identity check
• Bank statement or utility bill for proof of residency

ChoiceTrade review
Deposit and withdrawal 1 stars

ChoiceTrade deposit and withdrawal have a lot to improve. The credit/debit cards are not accepted, there is a high withdrawal fee and the withdrawal process is not user-friendly. As a plus, there is no deposit fee.

Account base currencies

At ChoiceTrade you can open your trading account only in one base currency, USD. It lags behind the competitors.

Why does this matter? Two things. First, if you fund your account in the same currency as your bank account, you won't be charged a currency conversion fee. Second, if you trade assets in the same currency as your account base currency, you will not have to pay a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on the currency conversion fees can be to open a multi-currency bank account. Revolut or Transferwise both offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. The account opening only takes a few minutes on your phone.

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Deposit fees and options

ChoiceTrade charges no deposit fees.

You can use only bank transfers for deposit. If you are from the US, you can also use check deposit and ACAT (account transfer).

A bank transfer can take several business days, while payment with a credit/debit card is instant.

You can only deposit money from accounts which are in your name.

Withdrawal fees and options

The ChoiceTrade withdrawal fee is $60 for non-US and $35 for US bank transfer. Furthermore, the withdrawal is not a piece of cake as it is not fully digital.

If you are outside the US, you can use only bank transfer. For US clients, the check and ACAT withdrawal methods are also available.

How long does it take to withdraw money from ChoiceTrade? As it's the only option, we tested the bank transfer. As usual with bank transfers, it took 3 days.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How do you withdraw money from ChoiceTrade? Withdrawal is complicated compared to other brokers. You can withdraw money from ChoiceTrade only offline and there is no clear description of the process.

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ChoiceTrade review
Web trading platform 2 stars

ChoiceTrader web trading platform is not user-friendly, there is no two-step login, and the search functions are poor. As a plus, it offers a clear fee report and a great variety of order types.

ChoiceTrade offers four trading platforms:

We tested ChoiceTrader web trading platform because it is ChoiceTrade's own trading platform and free to use.

ChoiceTrader is available only in English.

Look and feel

The ChoiceTrader is not user-friendly and feels very outdated. The platform loads slowly and the menu at the top is hard to use. Furthermore, the platform is not customizable at all.

Login and security

ChoiceTrade provides only a one-step login. A two-step login would be more secure.

Search functions

The search functions are poor. You can only search by typing the asset's ticker and not the asset's name. E.g. if you type Apple instead of AAPL, no results will appear. It would be also great if a relevant search list would appear if you search for an asset.

Placing orders

You can use a lot of order types, including some sophisticated ones:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop
• Stop Limit
• Trailing Stop
• Market/Limit on Close
• Market/Limit on Open

If you are not familiar with the basic order types, read this overview.

There are also a wide range of order time limits you can use:

• Good 'til canceled (GTC)
• Good 'til end of the day (GTD)
• Immediate or Cancel (IOC)
• Fill or Kill (FOK)
• Day+Ext
• All or Nothing (AON)

Alerts and notifications

You cannot set alerts and notifications.

Portfolio and fee reports

ChoiceTrade has clear portfolio and fee reports. It is great that you can choose from a wide range of reports, like your account balance, commissions you paid, margin requirements, etc.

You can find these reports if you go to Manage Account >> E-Docs >> Reports. When you go to E-Docs, you have to login, but with different credentials than those for the web trading platform.

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ChoiceTrade review
Mobile trading platform 4 stars

The ChoiceTrader mobile trading platform is great, much better than the web trading platform. It is user-friendly, has great search functions, and offers a lot of order types. On the negative side, it lacks the two-step login and you cannot set price alerts.

This table shows which mobile trading platforms are available at ChoiceTrade.

We tested the ChoiceTrader mobile trading platform because it is ChoiceTrade's own trading platform and free to use. ChoiceTrader s available in English.

Look and feel

ChoiceTrader mobile trading platform is user-friendly and has a great design. It is a complete opposite of the web trading platform.

Login and security

Similarly to the ChoiceTrader web trading platform, only a one-step login is provided.

Search functions

In contrast to the web trading platform, the search functions are good.  You can search by typing both the asset's name and ticker. We also liked that a relevant list appears when you search.

Placing orders

You can use the same order types and order time limits than at the web trading platform.

Alerts and notifications

Similarly to the ChoiceTrader web trading platform, you cannot set alerts and notifications on the mobile platform.

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ChoiceTrade review
Desktop trading platform 3 stars

ChoiceTrade Elit Trader desktop trading is OK. It looks nice, has a clear fee report and offers a wide range of order types. However, it lacks the customizability, two-step login, and you cannot set price alerts.

You can see in this table which desktop trading platforms are available. In this review, we tested ChoiceTrade Elit Trader desktop trading platform because

• ChoiceTrader, whose web and mobile trading platforms we tested, doesn't provide a desktop trading platform
• ChocieTrade Elit Trader seemed to have the best desktop trading platform
• ChoiceTrade Elit Trader is available for a reasonable monthly fee ($29.95) 

The desktop trading platform is available in English.

Look and feel

The ChoiceTrade Elit Trader is OK. It has a great design, but is not customizable at all. We also found some bugs on the platform, e.g. when we used the search function, it jumped back and forth.

Login and security

Similarly to the mobile and web trading platforms, there is only a one-step login.

Search functions

The search functions work well. You can search for the assets both by typing their names or tickers. It is also great that a relevant result list appears when you search for an asset.

Placing orders

You can use the same order types and order time limits than at the web trading platform.

Alerts and notifications

Similarly to the mobile and web trading platforms, you cannot set alerts and notifications on the desktop trading platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

At the Portfolio tab, you will find clear portfolio and fee reports.

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ChoiceTrade review
Markets and products 1 stars

At ChoiceTrade, you can trade only with US stocks, ETFs, and options.

ChoiceTrade offers only stocks, ETFs, and options. This offer covers only US markets.

Usually, we benchmark brokers by comparing how many markets a broker cover. We couldn't figure out how many exchanges ChoiceTrade covers. If you are planning to trade with really small US stocks or options, it is best to contact their customer support first. 

ChoiceTrade review
Research 3 stars

ChoiceTrade's research tools are OK. You can use recommendations, fundamental data, and read quality news. On the negative side, the charting tools are poor and the research tools are not user-friendly.

We tested the research tools on ChoiceTrader trading platform because this is the only platform you can use for free.

The research tools are available in English.

Trading ideas

ChoiceTrade provides trading ideas. The trading ideas are based on analysts' recommendation. We missed information about the analysts, like which company they work in.

You can find the trading ideas if you go to the Research tab and then click on the Analyst tab.

Besides the analyst recommendations, you can find trading ideas at the Robo-Analyst tab. The Robo-Analyst gives recommendations based on automated algorithms.

Fundamental data

ChoiceTrade offers fundamental data. It covers data, like the financial statements, EPS, insiders' share trading, etc.

Similarly to the trading ideas, the fundamental data can be found at the Research.

Charting

The charting tools are poor. You can only add technical indicators and compare the chart with other assets' charts, but can't add trendlines and other useful charting editor tools. 

The number of technical indicators lags behind the competitors.

News feed

The news has great quality, it is easily readable. It is provided by third-parties, like SeekingAlpha. You can find the news when you go to the Research tab. 

Other research tools you will enjoy

The Screener is a tool where you can filter stocks. There are a lot of filters you can use. For example, you can filter for the stock exchange, technical indicators, valuation, etc. When we used this tool, we found bugs. For example, when we tried to choose a filter, the tab jumped to the center of the screen.

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ChoiceTrade review
Customer service 4 stars

ChoiceTrade's customer service is easy to access and relevant on the phone. In email they could be quicker to respond and more useful.

You can contact ChoiceTrade in English via:

• telephone
• email

No other languages are available. 

ChoiceTrade phone support was fast and we got relevant answers.

On email, we got answers within a day and the information they provided was relevant.

However, we missed live chat and 24/7 availability. ChoiceTrade customer service is available from 9 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday, but we didn't find information about the time zone. We suppose that it is GMT-4, because the main office can be found in this time zone.

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ChoiceTrade review
Education 3 stars

The ChoiceTrade education tools are average. Amount and quality of education on the Elite platform is good. However, the interface is hard to navigate and the production quality could be improved.

At ChoiceTrade you can learn in the following ways:

• Demo account
• Platform tutorial videos
• Educational articles

The majority of the education material is about the trading platforms, rather than the investment or trading in general. These educational materials are different in quality and length depending on the trading platform you use:

• On the ChoiceTrader, most of the learning material is text. There are also a few videos, but they seem outdated, some videos were published in 2012.
• On the ChoiceTrade Elite Trader platform, texts are easier to consume due to better structure and more images. There are significantly more and better videos as well. We didn't like that the contents are squeezed into a small area on the screen instead of using the full screen.

Both the Choicetrader and ChoiceTrade Elite Trader have an interface which is hard to navigate.

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ChoiceTrade review
Safety

ChoiceTrade is regulated by SEC and FINRA, top-tier US regulators. You are also protected by a high investor protection amount, $500,000 which includes $250,000 for cash. On the flip side, negative balance protection is not provided.

Is ChoiceTrade regulated? Yes, it is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), it's also a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).

ChoiceTrade is based in the USA and was founded in 2000. Is ChoiceTrade safe? To be certain, it is best to check two things: how you are protected if something goes wrong and what the background of the broker is.

How you are protected

This is important for you because the investor protection amounts can be different depending on your country of origin. With ChoiceTrade this is not an issue though as all customers are covered by one US legal entity.

The SIPC investor protection protects against the loss of cash and securities in case the broker goes bust. The limit of SIPC protection is $500,000, which includes a $250,000 limit for cash. A non-U.S. citizen with ChoiceTrade is treated by the SIPC the same as a US resident in case something goes wrong. The provided amount is a substantially higher amount than most European investor protection schemes. 

On the flip side, ChoiceTrade does not provide negative balance protection.

Background of ChoiceTrade

ChoiceTrade was established in 2000 which is considered to be a long track record. The longer the track record of a broker is, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.

It also discloses annual financial statements which makes ChoiceTrade to be more transparent. These statements can be found at the Investor Relations.

Being regulated by top-tier regulators, being in operation for a long time, and disclosing financial statements are all great signs for ChoiceTrade's safety.

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ChoiceTrade review
Bottom line

ChoiceTrade offers commission-free stock trading if you choose the Stock Plan A fee structure. The account opening is easy, fully digital, and takes 1-2 days. It has also a great and user-friendly mobile trading platform.

On the negative side, ChoiceTrade charges $20-30 per quarter inactivity fee and high withdrawal fees for bank transfers, $60 for non-US clients and $35 for US clients. The deposit and withdrawal are not user-friendly and you can use only bank transfer. The product offer is limited, you can trade only with stock, ETF, and options.

As ChoiceTrade has a seamless account opening and you can trade with commission-free stocks, feel free to try it.

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