I’ve mentioned Zecco a few times here at Llama Money, and I believe that it’s the smartest way to buy individual stocks for the beginning investor.  With $4.50 stock trades for anyone, or $0 trades for those with $2500 in their account, the prices are unbeatable.  Note: you get 10 $0 trades per month if you have at least $2500 in equity in your account.

After beginning to dabble in stocks virtually via Llamafolio, I decided that it was time to put my money where my mouth is, and open a Zecco account.  So on February 3rd, I went to Zecco.com and filled out the application to get a trading account.  After a couple pages of pretty detailed questions, I was told that my application would be reviewed soon.  Being the impatient Llama that I am, I figured a couple hours, maybe a day tops.

Zecco Support

That was not so.  I hadn’t heard anything by Feb 6th, so I emailed support and said “Que Pasa?”  The very next day I received a reply that my account was indeed approved, they didn’t need any extra info from me, and I should receive my account number very soon.  As soon as I have the account number, I can begin trading.  Great!

Very soon turned out to be a full 7 days later.  On the 14th of February ( 11 days after my application ), I received my account number and trading key.  I logged in, changed my trading key ( at Zecco’s recommendation ), and figured I was set.  I also received a call from a Zecco representative, making sure that I was able to log into my trading account properly.  That really surprised me, as I didn’t expect it from a discount broker.

Funding your account

You can’t very well buy stocks with money.  Common sense, but I hadn’t thought of it.  I wanted to set up ACH transfer with my bank so that I can add or withdraw funds at my leisure.  To verify your bank account, Zecco will deposit two small amounts into your account, which you must then verify.  Then you can initiate your first ACH transfer, and begin to trade.  Today my deposits showed up, and I verified the account.  As soon as my tax refund hits, I’ll be transferring at least $2500 to my Zecco account.

If I had the funds right now, I could probably begin trading stocks by the end of this week.  ACH transfers do take a bit of time to go through, after all - and that’s no fault of Zecco.  So in my experience, it takes about 19 days or so from application to trading.  That does seem a bit long, but I haven’t opened any other brokerage accounts for comparison.  I don’t regret opening a Zecco account though, as I’ll be enjoying my commission-free stock trades immensely.  If you don’t yet have a Zecco account, I suggest you sign up today.  Once my account is funded, I’ll report back on the ease of trades ( and of course the trades that I make ).  I have high hopes for Zecco, and I think they are a great advancement in online stock trading.

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