Zecco, which is a phonetic representation of the acrononym ZCO (zero commission cost), is an online trading platform that’s been around since 2006. The company has managed to weather a nasty economy and the related drop in small investor market participation by making a few adjustments to its approach.
Here’s a brief overview of Zecco and what it’s all about. If you’re looking for a place to buy and sell without broker assistance or huge costs, it might be a good option for you.
Zecco’s Legitimacy
Before you start signing up to invest your money with anyone, you should ascertain their legitimacy. Zecco appears to be a legitimate, legal entity. In addition to the their 3-year track record and a large number of happy customers, Zecco is a subsidiary of Equinox Securities. According to Bargaineering:
Equinox Securities (CRD# 135398, SEC# 8-66916) registered as a corporation in California on 01/21/2005 and is located in Ontario, CA. It’s currently not suspended by any regulator and has not yet had any Arbitration Awards, Disciplinary and/or Regulatory Events. I downloaded the full Equinox Securities Report and you can see Zecco Trading listed on page 4.
CashMoneyLife gives us some additional reasons to feel confident about Zecco:
Zecco is a member of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which is the largest non-governmental regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. Zecco is covered by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which is an organization that acts as insurance against your broker filing for bankruptcy or otherwise going under.
Basic Structure
Finding that we should doubt the premise that Zecco might be a phony scheme operated out of low-rent motels by recent parolees is great, but being legit is only part of what makes an investment platform attractive. The actual structure and standards for participation are pretty darn important, too.
Accounts at Zecco are free and there isn’t a minimum deposit requirement. It takes just a few minutes to get things set up.
Right now, Zecco is charging $4.50 per trade. If you maintain a balance in excess of $25,000 and make at least 25 trades per month, you qualify for ten free trades. Options contracts cost an addition fifty cents.
$4.50 trades aren’t a horrific deal, but for Zecco veterans they may seem a little expensive. That’s because the company was offering freebies to folks with balances of only $2,500 and it doesn’t appear as if there was a 25-trade requirement at that time. The changing nature of the economy and overall decreases in stock market participation led Zecco to change their policy. Keep that in mind when reading Zecco reviews–many of them were written before this policy change.
Overall, though, $4.50 per trade is a decent deal and the right combination of extras could make Zecco one of the best trading options available. So, let’s look for some nice extras…
Zecco Extras
Let’s start with the Zecco Zirens. Zecco went out and hired a handful of spokesmodels/actresses to record a series of trading instruction videos. They named this crew the Zecco Zirens. The videos themselves do contain some valuable information and can be really handy for newbie investors.
The cheese factor, however, is high. I really can’t imagine that this approach is doing much to increase Zecco’s perceived legitimacy or seriousness. If you need an attractive teacher in a little black dress to teach you about an option call, however, Zecco has that covered. The photo accompanying this post features one of the ZZ’s.
Zecco also has a very active member community. If you want your investment with a heavy dose of Web 2.0 interaction, it’s a pretty good choice. The forums are hopping and Zecco makes it easy for folks to make contact and to discuss matters amongst themselves.
If you’re looking a place to manage your trades, Zecco seems like a pretty reasonable option. They’re legit, they have a solid basic structure and at least some of their added options have real value.
