RBC Direct Investing commission and other fees

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Overview of RBC Direct Investing fees and charges

We know that fees are on top of people's mind when selecting a broker. Brokerage fees consist of trading and non-trading fees. The most important trading fees are commission, spread, and financing rate.

Commission: it's charged when you execute a trade (either buy or sell). Commissions can be volume-tiered or flat fees. Nowadays, there are many commission-free brokers, click on the following links to check out the best free stockbrokers in the US and the EU.
Spread: it denotes the difference between the bid and ask price. When you trade forex or CFDs, spreads can make up a significant part of your trading costs.
Financing rate/overnight costs: if you trade on leverage, you may be charged for holding your positions overnight. This cost can be expressed as a percentage or in swap points.
Non-trading fees: these occur when you deposit and withdraw funds, or if you don't use your account for a certain period.

Now, let's dive into the details and see what commissions, spreads, and financing rates RBC Direct Investing charges.

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RBC Direct Investing

3.9/5

Minimum deposit

Stock fee

Average

Options fee

Average

Inactivity fee

Account opening

1-3 days

Visit RBC Direct Investing

RBC Direct Investing commission and other trading fees

RBC Direct Investing has average trading fees in general. We ranked RBC Direct Investing fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare with all reviewed brokers.

Check out this table to get an overview of whether RBC Direct Investing commissions, spreads, and financing rates for each asset class are low/average/high.

Classification of RBC Direct Investing commission and other trading fees
	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing	Qtrade Direct Investing Qtrade Direct Investing	Questrade Questrade
Stock and ETF	Average	Average	Low
Forex	-	-	Low
Fund	Low	Low	Low
Bond	Low	Low	Low
Options	Average	High	High
Futures	-	-	-

Now let's go over the trading fees for each asset class one by one.

RBC Direct Investing stock and ETF commissions, spreads

RBC Direct Investing stock and ETF commissions are average. RBC Direct Investing stock and ETF commissions are charged as per the table below.

RBC Direct Investing stock and ETF commission
	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing
US stock Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade, assuming a $50 stock price	CAD 9.95 per trade; CAD 6.95 if you make more than 150 trades per quarter
UK stock fee Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade, assuming a $50 stock price	Not available
German stock Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade	Not available
Indian stock	Not available

You can compare RBC Direct Investing stock and ETF fees with the two closest competitors.

RBC Direct Investing stock and ETF commission, spreads vs competitors
	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing	Qtrade Direct Investing Qtrade Direct Investing	Questrade Questrade
US stock Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade, assuming a $50 stock price	$7.4 CAD 9.95 per trade; CAD 6.95 if you make more than 150 trades per quarter	$8.8 CAD 8.75 per trade (CAD 6.95 if you make 150+ trades per quarter or have a CAD 500k+ account balance)	$5.0 $0.01 per share, min $4.95, max $9.95; buying ETFs is free, selling costs $0.01 per share
UK stock fee Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade, assuming a $50 stock price	- Not available	- Not available	- Not available
German stock Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade	- Not available	- Not available	- Not available
Indian stock	- Not available	- Not available	- Not available

Stock and ETF commissions are calculated for a $2,000 trade

RBC Direct Investing fund commissions

RBC Direct Investing fund commissions are low. The table below shows how RBC Direct Investing fund commissions are calculated.

RBC Direct Investing fund commissions
	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing
Mutual fund Estimated commission of a $2,000 US domiciled fund trade	No fee

Check out how RBC Direct Investing fund fees compare with the competition.

RBC Direct Investing fund commissions
	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing	Qtrade Direct Investing Qtrade Direct Investing	Questrade Questrade
Mutual fund Estimated commission of a $2,000 US domiciled fund trade	$0.0 No fee	$6.5 CAD 8.75 per trade (CAD 6.95 if you make 150+ trades per quarter or have a CAD 500k+ account balance)	$10.0 $9.95 per trade

Fund commissions are calculated for a $2,000 trade

RBC Direct Investing bond commissions

RBC Direct Investing bond commissions are low. The table below contains the description of RBC Direct Investing bond commissions.

RBC Direct Investing bond commissions
	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing
US Treasury bond Estimated commission of a $10,000 US treasury bond trade	Commission is included in the quoted price. Minimum commission: CAD 25 per transaction. Maximum commission: CAD 250 per transaction.
EU/UK government bond Estimated commission of a $10k EU or UK government bond trade	Not available

See how RBC Direct Investing bond fees stack up against the competition.

RBC Direct Investing bond commissions vs competitors
	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing	Qtrade Direct Investing Qtrade Direct Investing	Questrade Questrade
US Treasury bond Estimated commission of a $10,000 US treasury bond trade	$18.5 Commission is included in the quoted price. Minimum commission: CAD 25 per transaction. Maximum commission: CAD 250 per transaction.	$25.0 $1 per $1,000 face value, $24.99 min and $250 max	$0.0 No fees, but minimum $5,000 purchase
EU/UK government bond Estimated commission of a $10k EU or UK government bond trade	- Not available	- Not available	- Not available

Bond commissions are calculated for a $10,000 trade

RBC Direct Investing options commissions

You can see below the description of RBC Direct Investing options commissions. RBC Direct Investing options fees are average.

RBC Direct Investing options commissions
	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing
US stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	CAD 9.95 + CAD 1.25 per contract, if you have more than 150 trades per quarter then CAD 6.95 + CAD 1.25 per contract
US stock options Estimated commission for opening 10 contracts	CAD 9.95 + CAD 1.25 per contract; if you have more than 150 trades per quarter then CAD 6.95 + CAD 1.25 per contract
UK stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	Not available
German stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	Not available

Compare options commissions charged by RBC Direct Investing with those of Qtrade Direct Investing and Questrade.

RBC Direct Investing options commissions vs competitors
	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing	Qtrade Direct Investing Qtrade Direct Investing	Questrade Questrade
US stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$16.6 CAD 9.95 + CAD 1.25 per contract, if you have more than 150 trades per quarter then CAD 6.95 + CAD 1.25 per contract	$21.3 $8.75 flat fee and $1.25 per contract, but the flat fee is $6.95 if you trade 150+ per quarter or have at least $500k account balance	$20.0 $9.95 + $1 per contract
US stock options Estimated commission for opening 10 contracts	$16.6 CAD 9.95 + CAD 1.25 per contract; if you have more than 150 trades per quarter then CAD 6.95 + CAD 1.25 per contract	$21.3 $8.75 flat fee and $1.25 per contract, but the flat fee is $6.95 if you trade 150+ per quarter or have at least $500k account balance	$20.0 $9.95 + $1 per contract
UK stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	- Not available	- Not available	- Not available
German stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	- Not available	- Not available	- Not available

Options commissions are calculated for 10 contracts

RBC Direct Investing non-trading fees

In addition to trading fees, it's important to see if RBC Direct Investing charges a fee on deposits, withdrawals, account maintenance, and inactivity. We compared these fees levied by RBC Direct Investing with its two closest competitors.

RBC Direct Investing non-trading fees vs competitors
	RBC Direct Investing RBC Direct Investing	Qtrade Direct Investing Qtrade Direct Investing	Questrade Questrade
Deposit fee	$0 Free deposit	$0 Free Deposit	$0 Free deposit
Withdrawal fee Fee for withdrawing money from the broker account. It is zero if you can withdraw money for free via any method, e.g. credit/debit card or bank transfer.	$0 Free withdrawal for margin, cash, RESP, and TFSA accounts if you have RBC bank account, but high withdrawal fee for RRSP withdrawals and non-RBC bank clients	$0 Free withdrawal	$0 No withdrawal fee for electronic fund transfers, but $20-$40 for wire transfers depending on your residency
Account fee Monthly account fee	Yes CAD 25 per quarter if you have account balance less than CAD 15,000	Yes CAD 25 per quarter unless you hold CAD 25,000 / make a minimum number of trades / set a recurring deposit of at least $100 per month	No No account fee
Inactivity fee Fee applied if a customer does not trade for a certain length of time	No No inactivity fee	Yes $25 per quarter, charged as account fee if you fail to make a minimum number of trades or deposits during a quarter	No No inactivity fee

CFD fees are calculated for a $2,000 trade using 20:1 leverage for stock index CFDs, and 5:1 leverage for stock CFDs

Bottom line

Hopefully, by now you have a clear picture of the commissions, spreads, financing rates, and non-trading fees charged by RBC Direct Investing and its closest competitors. To learn more about RBC Direct Investing, check out this detailed review. If you would like more information about fees in general, read this article about brokerage fees.

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