In a new report, “Leaders of the Pack in Online Brokerage Capabilities,” Aite Group compared retail online brokerage firms and ranked the top five based on participant responses.
The group conducted a study of 332 U.S. retail consumers who possess investing accounts with access to online trading and asked them to rate their impression of their broker’s overall online capabilities. Over 70 percent of responses represented five firms: Ameritrade, E*Trade, Fidelity, Charles Schwab and Scottrade.
Charles Schwab ranked top in the survey, with customers appreciating how comprehensive the Web site was. Day-traders liked the streaming quotes and ability to perform multiple transactions simultaneously. Navigation and site speed, as well as pricing, were areas that left most to be desired in the opinion of many users.
“We found that retail customers are largely satisfied with their online brokerage’s capabilities, particularly in the cases of those that offered the most functional capabilities,” said Adam Honor, senior analyst at Aite Group.
However, Honor warned, “As the retail brokerage landscape continues to seek new customers and aggregate the cumulative assets of existing customers, there is a constant stream of new programs, features and capabilities designed to draw and retain more assets under management. In the race to provide the richest online experience, firms would do well to remember that customers are still interested in price, service and usability above all else.”