Bank of America-Merrill Lynch rolled out the Merrill Edge platform on Monday, June 21, to give new and existing customers discount online-trading, banking and other services.
The online-trading services are being offered to some clients at a discount when compared to fees generally charged by Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade.
With balances of $25,000 or more in some accounts, investors can make up to 30 equity or ETF trades for free. For others, and when more than 30 trades per month take place, there are charges of $4.95 or $8.95 per trade.
Merrill is reportedly aiming to target investors with $250,000 or less in investable assets, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Investors opening certain accounts on the site and with more than $20,000 to invest may also seek advice from advisers, who are not part of Merrill Lynch's full-service brokerage force, by phone.
"Merrill Edge is a unique business and platform that is a direct example of the power and combination of Bank of America with Merrill Lynch," the company said in a statement. "Merrill Edge allows us to uniquely serve clients across all wealth segments and across all life with the full breadth of solutions – cash management to investments."
The platform gives clients the option of making their investment decisions on their own via or getting financial advice via the Merrill Edge Advisory Center, a phone-based advice channel.
