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Firstrade's service is on par with Merrill Edge's and a comparison of their fees shows that Firstrade's fees are similar to Merrill Edge's.
Account opening takes somewhat more effort at Firstrade compared to Merrill Edge, deposit and withdrawal processes are about the same quality at Firstrade, while customer service quality is considerably lower than Merrill Edge's.
Our experts rated the trading platform of Firstrade as being of the same quality as the platform of Merrill Edge, found that clients have access to slightly more markets and products with Firstrade, while Merrill Edge provides somewhat lower-quality research and education.