Merrill Edge Review 2025

Is Merrill Edge regulated?

Yes, it is regulated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Is Merrill Edge safe?

To be certain that a brokerage is safe, we highly advise that you check two facts:

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

How you are protected

At Merrill Edge, as a unit of Bank of America Corp, all customers are covered by the US investor protection scheme, called the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). SIPC investor protection shields investors from the loss of cash and securities in case the broker goes bust. The limit of SIPC protection is $500,000, including $250,000 for cash.
Not all investments are protected by SIPC. In general, SIPC covers notes, stocks, bonds, mutual funds 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.

Merrill Edge does not provide negative balance protection. If the balance on your account goes into negative, you will not be protected.

Our brokerage experts put together a comprehensive guide on the safety profile of Merrill Edge.

Background

Merrill Edge was established in 2010. Its parent company, Bank of America, was established in 1998. The longer the track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.
The fact that the parent company has a banking license means that Merrill Edge is also subject to tougher regulations than other brokers. What's more, Bank of America is listed on the stock exchange, which is a big plus for safety as the bank releases financial statements regularly and transparently.
Merrill Edge's safety profile is boosted by the fact that the broker's parent company has a banking background, is listed on the stock exchange, and is regulated by top-tier regulators.

Find your safe broker

Account base currencies

At Merrill Edge, the only available base currency is USD.

If you have a personal bank account in a currency other than USD, then you will be charged a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on currency conversion fees is by opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. These usually 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.

Deposit fees and options

Merrill Edge charges no deposit fees.

Besides bank transfers, you can also use check payments. Wire transfers cost $25.

Due to US regulations, US citizens cannot use credit cards to fund their brokerage accounts. They can only use debit cards, where available.

Here's all you need to know about minimum deposit requirements and depositing money at Merrill Edge.

A bank transfer can take several business days. You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.

Merrill Edge withdrawal fees and options

Merrill Edge charges no withdrawal fees. You can use the same options for withdrawal as for deposit. Wire transfers cost $25.

Read our guide containing all key info on available withdrawal methods and related fees at Merrill Edge.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How long does it take to withdraw money from Merrill Edge? We tested the bank transfer withdrawal and it took more than 3 business days. This is a lengthy process compared to other brokers.

How do you withdraw money from Merrill Edge?

• Log in to the account
• Go to 'Accounts', then select 'Transfer Money & Securities'
• Decide whether you would like to withdraw cash or securities (securities can take longer than 8 days to transfer)
• Select the withdrawal method you want to use. For the cash banking connection withdrawal:
• Select your Merrill Edge account as 'Transfer from'
• Select the account you want to withdraw the money to as 'Transfer to'
• Enter the amount you wish to withdraw, set the frequency
• Initiate the withdrawal

Can you open an account?

Visit broker

Read our separate article on how to get your account started with Merrill Edge.

What is the minimum deposit at Merrill Edge?

The required Merrill Edge minimum deposit is $0.

This is the case for most account types. The 529 NextGen Direct account requires a low, $25 deposit. In addition, if you would like to trade on margin, you need to maintain a minimum balance of $2,000.
You can also open guided accounts, which are suitable for clients preferring professional assistance in their investment decisions. The minimum deposit for these accounts ranges from $1,000 to $20,000.

Account types

There are many account types you can choose from.

In this review, we tested the Individual Brokerage Account. The account opening process is different if you are already a client of Bank of America or Merrill. In our test, we did not use either a Bank of America or a Merrill account.

How to open your account

We really liked the fully digital, fast and user-friendly account-opening process. It took less than one day to open an account without an already existing bank account. This simplicity and speed are unusual for US brokers; for instance, the account opening at Interactive Brokers is very complicated. However, it is similar to competitor firm Chase You Invest, which is also connected to a banking company and has an easy account opening process.
So what does the process look like? At first, you have to go through a 5-step registration process, which takes roughly 20 minutes. Most of the questions are related to personal information and data, while others inquire whether you would like to apply separately to trade on margin, apply for a debit card, or apply for check-writing privileges.
During this process, you have to verify your identity and residency by entering the following:

• Whether you are a US resident
• US phone number
• Social Security Number
• Address, marital status, date of birth
• Net worth and primary source of household income

The web and mobile trading platforms are really similar to each other, but we weigh simplicity and easy handling as more important for mobile trading platforms. That is why the Merrill Edge mobile trading platform has a higher score than the web trading platform.
The major difference compared to the web trading platform is that you can't trade bonds on the mobile trading platform. This strikes us as very unusual, but the mobile platform of competitor Chase You Invest has the same limitation.

The mobile trading platform is available in the following languages:

• English
• Spanish

We tested it on iOS and noticed that the application in Apple's app store has good reviews in general.

Look and feel

The Merrill Edge mobile trading platform is well-designed and simple to use. It offers a consistent feel with the broker's web trading platform.

Login and security

Merrill Edge provides a safer, two-step login for its mobile platform.

You can log in using biometric authentication, which is a convenient feature.

Search functions

The search functions are OK.

You have to enter the ticker symbol or the name of the company or asset in order to access it. Other ways to search are limited, but due to the necessity of having a simple mobile application, this seems okay.

Placing orders

You can use the following order types on the mobile trading platform:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop
• Stop Limit
• Trailing Stop

There are also order time limits you can use:

• Day
• Good til canceled (GTC)

Alerts and notifications

You can set alerts and notifications on the Merrill Edge mobile platform.

The types of alerts include:

• Investment Alerts
• Account Alerts
• Market Alerts
• Security Alerts

Our analysts personally tested Merrill Edge's mobile trading platform; read the Merrill Edge mobile app review for a detailed verdict on its performance and features.

Visit broker

The Merrill Edge MarketPro desktop trading platform is available to all clients but is primarily aimed at active traders.

Look and feel

MarketPro is an advanced and highly customizable platform, where you can for example use 26 fully-customizable windows for your trading space. It also has a wide range of watchlists and alerts you can set, as well as advanced charting (more than 104 technical indicators and 25 drawing tools), and analytical tools such as screeners and a strategy builder. MarketPro offers a number of options tools as well, including the idea generation tool OptionsPlay.

Login and security

Merrill Edge provides a two-step login.

Search functions

The search functions are good.

Placing orders

The following order types are available on the desktop platform:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop
• Stop Limit
• Trailing Stop

There are also order time limits you can use on the desktop platform:

• Day
• Good til canceled (GTC)

Alerts and notifications

You can set alerts and notifications on the desktop trading platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

Merrill Edge has clear fee reports.

Visit broker

This selection is average compared to competing brokers.

Stocks and ETFs

Merrill Edge gives you access to an average number of stock markets and ETFs.

You can trade stocks listed on the NYSE (Arca), AMEX (NYSE MKT) and NASDAQ markets. Youcan also trade low-priced stocks or “penny stocks.”

Funds

Merrill Edge offers 3,100 mutual funds from around 100 different providers. The number of providers is quite low compared to the competition.

This selection falls behind competing brokers. Both Fidelity and Vanguard make more fund providers available.

Bonds

Merrill Edge offers only around 8,300 bonds. Compared to Fidelity and Vanguard, this selection is significantly smaller.

This selection falls behind competing brokers. Both Fidelity and Vanguard list more bonds.

Options

The biggest exchanges,like CBOE or CME, are available at Merrill Edge.

This selection is average compared to competing brokers.

Interest on uninvested cash

Merrill Edge pays 4.2% interest on uninvested USD for accounts above $100k.

This is how it works: your uninvested cash is placed by Merrill into a deposit account with Bank of America, called a Preferred Deposit. The money is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), up to applicable limits.

You can access your Preferred Deposit balance — through your financial advisor — to quickly and easily redirect these assets for your personal needs or to take advantage of other opportunities.

We recommend Merrill Edge for investors and traders who looking for low fees, quick account opening, and simple platforms.

Below you can find links to all aspects of Merrill Edge in this comprehensive collection.

Lower fees, lower costs?

We detailed this in our Merrill Edge fees article.

What about the minimum deposit?

Our ultimate guide to the Merrill Edge minimum deposit is updated regularly.

How to start your Merrill Edge account?

Look no further than our evaluation of the Merrill Edge account opening.

How's their trading app?

Here's our expert view after checking the Merrill Edge trading app.

Is the quality of customer service satisfactory?

All you need to know about the Merrill Edge customer service.

Legit or scam?

Is Merrill Edge legit features all the key aspects you need to look at to see if a broker is safe and legit.

Free or premium? Or both?

A glance at actual costs and whether Merrill Edge is really free.

Is this broker good for beginners?

We checked it in Is Merrill Edge good for beginners.

Should you buy your silver bullets on Merrill Edge?

Research for silver bugs in the Silver buy on Merrill Edge guide

I want to trade options, are they available at Merrill Edge?

We explored the topic in Can you trade options on Merrill Edge?

What is the minimum account balance at Merrill Edge?

Check out the current account balance requirements at Merrill Edge in our What is the minimum account balance at Merrill Edge article.

Looking for commission and fees data for Merrill Edge?

We collected them in Merrill Edge commission and fees.

How do you withdraw money from Merrill Edge?

We tested it and collected the options and costs in How to withdraw money on Merrill Edge.