Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC)’s Merrill Lynch division plans to launch a new discount online brokerage aimed at new and young investors today.
The service, known as Merrill Edge, hopes to compete with existing online trading companies such as TD Ameritrade, E-Trade Financial Corp. and Charles Schwab Corp. The service will charge customers $8.95 for trade and customers that have $25,000 or more in their accounts will receive 30 free online equity trades per month.
Both E-Trade and TD Ameritrade account holders currently pay $9.99 per trade and Schwab charges customers $8.95.
About 500,000 customers that make use of Bank of America’s and Merrill Lynch’s existing online services will be transferred over to Merrill Edge during the next few month. The service will also allow linked access to banking, credit, retirement and investment products.
In addition to its online service, Merrill Edge will offer telephone and mobile access to its customers. Customers will also be able to interact with the service through Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC)’s network of 6,000 branches and its 18,000 ATMs.
