Match Your Needs to Online Brokerage Service
Investor's Business Daily (10/20/00) Vol. 104, No. 42 p.B14; Moreau, Dan
While online brokers attracted 4 million new accounts
this year, the customer satisfaction firm J.D. Power said that
customers were not satisfied with the service they received.
Customers were particularly unsatisfied with the frequency of
computer crashes and the long waits for replies to inquiries.
But the online brokerages seem to be improving, according to
Keynote Systems, which found that while brokers completed a test
trade 85 percent of the time in February, that figure is now up
to 95 percent. According to a J.D. Power survey of 2,000
investors, the most important aspects of online brokers are
customer service, information and education, integrity,
processing, portfolio management, and fees and commissions.
According to Gomez.com, the top 10 online brokers are Charles
Schwab, E-Trade, Fidelity Investments, DLJdirect, TD Waterhouse,
National Discount Brokers, American Express Brokerage, Merrill
Lynch & Co., My Discount Broker, and Suretrade.