Third, they make money through margin and options trading. This becomes their Net Interest Margin (NIM) business, similar to that of banks. For example, Charles Schwab could pay you a 0.1% interest rate on your cash and buy a 10-year treasury bond paying 1.5%. For example, Charles Schwab generates the bulk of its revenue by paying you a lower interest rate on your cash deposits with the firm and earns a higher interest in lending or investing the money elsewhere. One is through data collation where they collect the trading data of their users and consequently sell that info to hedge funds. Intense competition driving commission rates down to zero means that brokerage firms have to “innovate” to survive and possibly prosper in this cut-throat industry.įor online brokerages now charging zero trading fees, they make money a few ways. It might surprise you that there are many ways in which a trading platform can make money beyond its traditional “bread and butter” commission charges on trades. How do online brokerages make money charging zero trading fees? Now, that experience just got better for our Singapore clients”.

Chris Brankin, the CEO of TD Ameritrade Singapore said: “Beyond zero commissions, we are committed to giving our clients the best possible investing experience, with cutting-edge technology and award-winning investor education and service teams. With that, the company is now the first and only (for now) brokerage firm to bring commission-free US stocks trading for Singaporean investors.

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