ChoiceTrade Review 2020

ChoiceTrade has low trading fees and you can trade stocks and ETFs with no commission. On the flip side, the non-trading fees are high.

How we ranked fees

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 related to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees, and non-trading fees.

• Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates and conversion fees.
• Non-trading fees include charges not directly related to trading, like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

In the sections below, you will find the most relevant fees of ChoiceTrade for each asset class. For example, in the case of stock investing, commissions are the most important fees.

We also compared ChoiceTrade's fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, Tradestation and Interactive Brokers. This selection is based on objective factors such as products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc. See a more detailed rundown of ChoiceTrade alternatives.

To have a clear overview of ChoiceTrade, let's start with the trading fees.

ChoiceTrade trading fees

ChoiceTrade trading fees are low. The fee structure is transparent and easy to understand. 

Stock fees and ETF fees

ChoiceTrade has low stock and ETF commission. If you trade with NYSE, Nasdaq or Amex listed stocks and ETFs, the commission is zero, except for penny stocks. If you trade with not listed stocks and ETFs, the commission is $7 per trade.

If you prefer stock trading on margin or short sale, you should check ChoiceTrade financing rates.

A financing rate, or margin rate, is charged when you trade on margin or short a stock. This basically means that you borrow money or stocks from your broker to trade. For this borrowed money/stock you have to pay an interest. This is the financing rate. It can be a significant proportion of your trading costs.

ChoiceTrade financing rates are high.

The financing rate is calculated as the FED funds rate plus 6%. To make ChoiceTrade's financing rate comparable with other brokers' financing rates, we used the FED overnight rate as of 21 September 2019. 

The financing rates above are also applied for the options trading.

Options fees

ChoiceTrade options fees are low. The commission for options is $0 per trade plus $0.40 per contract with a maximum cap of $50 per month. That means if you transact over 125 contracts in a month, your commission effectively drops to zero for the month on all contracts over 125. 

Non-trading fees

ChoiceTrade has high non-trading fees. It charges a high inactivity fee and withdrawal fee. There is also a one-time fee for setting up international or corporate accounts.

The inactivity fee is $35 per quarter if less than 5 trades happen in the previous quarter. There is a monthly $5 fee for non-US account maintenance.

Withdrawal fees are high as well:

• Domestic outgoing wire fee is $35
• International outgoing wire fee is $60
• Domestic ACH fee is $5 (limit applies: 3/month)

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

Can you open an account?

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What is the minimum deposit at ChoiceTrade?

The required minimum deposit is low,  $100. I

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 seamless and quick account opening is not usual for US brokers.

At first, you have to go through a short 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 deposit is ok, but withdrawal is very inconvenient. The credit/debit cards are not accepted, there is a high withdrawal fee and the withdrawal process is not user-friendly.

Account base currencies

At ChoiceTrade you can open your trading account only in one base currency, USD. There are several US-based competitors, who offer multiple base currencies.

Why does this matter? For two reasons. If you fund your trading account in the same currency as your bank account or you trade assets in the same currency as your trading account base currency, you don't have to pay a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on currency conversion fees is by opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. Revolut or Transferwise both offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. Opening an account only takes a few minutes on your phone.

Compare digital banks

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).

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

ChoiceTrade withdrawal fees and options

ChoiceTrade charges a $5 withdrawal fee for domestic ACH, $60 for non-US and $35 for US bank transfer. Beyond high fees you will face a very inconvenient process when you withdraw your money, as it is not fully digital and you have to contact customer support to initiate it.

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?

We tested the bank transfer, 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 with manual help from ChoiceTrade support, and there is no clear description of the process available on their website.

Steps of ChoiceTrade withdrawal process:

1. Download the withdrawal form from ChoiceTrade website (available at the 'Support \ Forms \ Deposit/Withdrawal' section.
2. Fill out the form, sign, scan and send it to [email protected] (or send the hard copy via fax, overnight delivery or regular mail).
3. Wait for the feedback from the support, that they initiated the transfer and deducted the withdrawal fee.

Compare to other brokers

ChoiceTrade web trading platform offers a clear fee report and a great variety of order types. On the other hand, the design is outdated, there is no two-step login, and the search functions are poor.

ChoiceTrade offers four trading platforms:

*It's waived if you hold  $30,000 or more on your account.

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

Look and feel

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

When you log in, you can choose if you want to open the redesigned platform. The main difference is the design of the menu on the left and the header. Other elements have the same, outdated design.

Login and security

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

Search functions

The search function is 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 when 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 is 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 price 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 log in separately, but with different credentials than those for the web trading platform.

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The ChoiceTrade 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.

From the available mobile platforms, we tested the ChoiceTrade mobile trading platform, because it is ChoiceTrade's native mobile trading platform and it's free to use. It's available in English.

Look and feel

ChoiceTrade mobile trading platform is user-friendly and has a great and up-to-date design. It is a complete opposite of the web trading platform.

Login and security

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

You can't log in using biometric authentication. Having this feature would be more convenient.

Search functions

Contrary 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 as on the web trading platform.

Alerts and notifications

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

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The ChoiceTrade Elite Trader desktop trading platform 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 can't set price alerts.

From the available desktop platforms, we tested ChoiceTrade Elite Trader desktop trading platform because

• ChoiceTrader doesn't provide a custom desktop trading platform,
• ChoiceTrade Elite Trader is the newest desktop trading platform in the arsenal,
• and ChoiceTrade Elite Trader is available for a reasonable monthly fee ($29.95), which is waived if you hold $30,000 or more on your account. 

Look and feel

The ChoiceTrade desktop trading platform is OK. It has a good design, but is not customizable at all. We also found some bugs on the platform, e.g. when we used the search function, UI control elements 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 function works 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 as on the web trading platform.

Alerts and notifications

You can't set alerts and notifications on the ChoiceTrade Elite desktop trading platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

ChoiceTrade Elite provides clear portfolio and fee reports, that you can reach on the 'Portfolio' tab.

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

ChoiceTrade offers only stocks, ETFs, and options.

ChoiceTrade gives you access to US markets only, no foreign exchanges are available. You can trade on these exchanges: NYSE, NYSE American (AMEX), NASDAQ. ChoiceTrade's stock, ETF and option offer is not transparent though, no info is available about the number of assets you can trade on these markets.   

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

We tested the research tools on the ChoiceTrade web trading platform. You can use this for free. The research tools are available in English.

Trading ideas

ChoiceTrade provides trading ideas. The trading ideas are based on analysts' recommendations. Some background info about the analysts would be great, e.g. which company they work at. 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. It's not a free service, you can subscribe to the 'End Of Day Only' package for $20 and to the 'Intraday + Daily Picks' package for $60.

Fundamental data

ChoiceTrade offers fundamental data. It covers data like financial statements, EPS, insiders' share trading, etc. Similarly to the trading ideas, the fundamental data can be found at the 'Research' tab.

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 available technical indicators lags behind the competitors.

If you prefer an advanced charting, you should use the ChoiceTrade Elite. The charts are easily editable and customizable with a lot of technical indicators. On the negative side, the ChoiceTrade Elite has a monthly fee.

News feed

The news feed section has great quality, it is easy to find and read. It is provided by third-party news providers, like SeekingAlpha. You can find the news under 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, eg. when we tried to choose a filter, the tab jumped to the center of the screen.

Compare research pros and cons

ChoiceTrade's customer service is easy to reach and answers were relevant via email and phone. On the other hand, live chat is not available and support is not available on weekends.

You can contact ChoiceTrade in English via:

• telephone
• email

ChoiceTrade phone support was fast and we got relevant answers. Same goes for email support, we got answers within a day, and the information they provided was relevant.

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 is in this time zone.

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The ChoiceTrade education tools are mediocre. The amount and quality of education material on the Elite platform is good, but the interface of the Help & Learning Center is hard to navigate, content is not up-to-date and the production quality is poor.

At ChoiceTrade you can learn in the following ways:

• Demo account
• Platform tutorial videos
• Quality educational articles

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

• On the ChoiceTrade web platform, most of the learning material is in text format. 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 ChoiceTrade web platform and ChoiceTrade Elite Trader have an interface that is hard to navigate.

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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, we highly advise that you check two facts:

• how you are protected if something goes wrong
• what the background of the broker is

How you are protected

With ChoiceTrade investor protection for all customers are covered by the SIPC. 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 substantially higher than most European investor protection schemes provide. 

Not all investments are protected by SIPC. In general, SIPC covers notes, stocks, bonds, mutual fund and other investment company shares, and other registered securities. It does not cover instruments such as unregistered investment contracts, unregistered limited partnerships, fixed annuity contracts, currency, and interests in gold, silver, or other commodity futures contracts or commodity options.

On the flip side, ChoiceTrade does not provide negative balance protection. If the balance on your account goes into negative, you will be protected.

Background

ChoiceTrade was established in 2000 which is considered as a long track record. The longer track record a broker has, the more likely it survived financial hard times. It also discloses annual financial statements that make ChoiceTrade even more transparent. These statements can be found at the 'Investor Relations' section.

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.

Find your safe broker

ChoiceTrade offers commission-free stock trading. The account opening is easy, fully digital, and takes 1-2 days. It also offers a great and user-friendly mobile trading platform.

On the negative side, ChoiceTrade charges a high inactivity fee and withdrawal fee for bank transfers. The withdrawal is not user-friendly and you can use only bank transfer. The product offer is limited, you can trade only with stocks, ETF, and options.

As ChoiceTrade account opening is seamless and you can trade stocks and ETFs with zero commission, feel free to try it.

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