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Last Updated: 04/18/2025

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed

from Bank of America

Last Updated: 04/18/2025

Mostly recommended7 total votes

3 users recommend

1 users are unsure

3 users don't recommend

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Highlights

Community Rating

Mostly recommended

Online Trade Fee

$0 - $6.95

Minimum Initial Investment

$25

Broker Assisted Trading Fee

Starting at $29.95

Number of Reviews

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed Review

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed is offered by Bank of America, a bank founded in 1784 and based in Charlotte, NC. states.

Key Takeaways

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed FAQ

What assets can you invest in on Merrill Edge® Self-Directed?

Supported Options

Unsupported Options

Stocks
Options
Bonds
Mutual Funds

Cryptocurrencies
FOREX
Futures
International Stocks
Pink Sheets / OTCBB
Real Estate
Marketplace Loans
Startups
Treasury Bills

What trading fees does Merrill Edge® Self-Directed charge?

The online trading fees for Merrill Edge® Self-Directed are below the average ($8.90) for online brokerages. However, there are other fees to consider.

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed Fees

Trading Fees

Amount

Broker Assisted Trading Fee

$29.95

Returned Deposit Fee (International)

$20

Outgoing International Bank Transfer Fee

$24.95

How much do you have to invest to open an account?

The minimum investment to open an account with Merrill Edge® Self-Directed is $25.

What margin rates does Merrill Edge® Self-Directed offer?

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed offers a margin rate that ranges from 9.625%.

What brokerage features does Merrill Edge® Self-Directed offer?

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed provides users with a variety of tools. These include:

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed Brokerage Features

Supported Options

Unsupported Options

Broker Assisted Trades
Trading Platform
No-Commission ETFs
Retail Locations
Advisor Services
Dividend Reinvestment
24/7 Support

No Fee IRAs
Declines Payment for Order Flow (Equities)
Declines Payment for Order Flow (Options)
Automated Trading Strategy
Online Live Chat
Real Time Quotes
Automated Trading Strategy
Account Transfer Fee Reimbursement

What research tools does Merrill Edge® Self-Directed offer investors?

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed is not only a brokerage. It's also an investment analysis platform that provides a wide selection of research tools. These include:

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed Research Tools

Supported Options

Unsupported Options

Global Markets Analysis
Historical Performance Analysis
Mutual Bonds Analysis
Mutual Funds Analysis
Account Transfer Fee Reimbursement
Webinars

ETF Top 10 Holdings
Fund Prospectus Access
Insider Transactions
Live Seminars
Past Earnings Reports
Portfolio Allocation
SEC Filings
Social Sentiment Analysis
Stock Metric Comparisons

SuperMoney Disclosure: SuperMoney.com is an independent, advertising-supported service. The owner of this website may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. Read more...

Editorial Disclaimer: Editorial and user-generated content on this page is not provided or commissioned by the issuer. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone and have not been approved or otherwise endorsed by any financial institution, including those that are advertising partners.

Message from Merrill Edge® Self-Directed

It takes just a minute to get a head?start with investing. If you're not feeling confident about where to begin, relax! We have you covered. These quick videos can give you a head-start with opening, funding and investing from your Merrill account. We're reinventing what it means to be a confident online investor. Enjoy unlimited $0 online stock, ETF and option trades, with no annual account fees or balance minimums. Get easy-to-understand insights and timely investing ideas, backed by award-winning research. Invest your way with access to a wide range of stocks, bonds, ETFs and well-known mutual funds.

Contact

Headquarters

100 North Tryon Street

Charlotte, NC 28255

(888) 637-3343

Visit Site

Email Support

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SuperMoney Net Recommendation Score

SuperMoney users mostly recommend this product, giving it a user recommendation score of 0, or 3 on a 5-point rating scale.

-1000+100

No one recommends

Everyone recommends

The recommendation score reflects customer satisfaction with a provider. A score of +100 means every customer recommends the provider, while -100 means none of them do. These scores are based entirely on community member votes and are not influenced by partner compensation. SuperMoney removes fake reviews when detected.

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed Community Reviews

Would you recommend Merrill Edge® Self-Directed to your friends?

D K.

Sep 13, 2022

May or may not recommend

Merrill Edge is the only brokerage I know of that doesn't even have a way for clients to get in touch with a live person. Seriously, you can't sent them an email, can't chat with them. Only "option" is to call and hold times are about 45 minutes if you don't get hung up on first. All of which wouldn't be a problem if they can keep track of simple ...Show More

Bamidele S.

Nov 20, 2021

May or may not recommend

This Merrill edge products are doing great, in term of customer relation and low fees of banking compare to other products.......keep using it

Sara D.

Dec 8, 2020

May or may not recommend

I Highly recommend the Merrill Edge Self-Directed Brokerage account. The Merrill Edge platform is one of the best brokerage platforms that I have used. They have an amazing end year review of how your account did with wonderful analytics. If you like to see detailed info on your performance then you will love this feature. Merrill Edge also allows you to have a higher status once you hit a certain ...Show More

Roberta L.

Jun 21, 2017

May or may not recommend

I like ML. Big plus is their low fees for stocks. Much cheaper than anything else I've found. Their customer service is very friendly

Isaac H.

Oct 29, 2014

May or may not recommend

You'll like Merrill Edge if you're a Bank of America customer since it can be your banker/broker at the same time. However there is a catch. Merrill Edge caters to long term investors, with balances exceeding $ 50,000 in their combined accounts. So if you're a frequent trader and/or you carry less than $ 50,000 in your Bank of America/Merrill Edge accounts; you may not be too happy with their ...Show More

Mani K.

Aug 15, 2014

May or may not recommend

This company is fairly new, and while it offers simple flat rate pricing, no trade minimums, and no minimum balance, it comes with a great deal of fees. In particular, there's a $44.95 fee if you need to speak with a phone representative to execute a trade. That's nearly $50 bucks just to talk to someone.

Willy E.

Mar 13, 2014

May or may not recommend

I bank with Bank of America and have been happy with banking side - therefore, I went ahead and opened Merrill Edge account. But I was very disappointed with the service in the first month itself - rather i would say in less than 15 days. I would suggest that if you want to go - go with anybody else but with Merrill Edge for the following reasons per my ...Show More

Showing 7 of 7 reviews