OT...Wells Fargo ups ante in online price game
By Greg Morcroft, MarketWatch
Last Update: 8:53 AM ET Feb 13, 2007
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Wells Fargo on Tuesday offered 100 free stock trades a year to customers holding balances of $25,000, raising the ante in the jockeying by firms out to offer investors the most competitive trading costs.
In announcing the move, Wells Fargo (WFC) said its offer differs from a recent rival entry from rival Bank of America (BAC) because its $25,000 threshold includes loan balances and money in brokerage accounts toward the minimum requirement.
Customers will be able to trade stocks, mutual funds and exchange trade funds under the plan.
Before Bank of America's move, industry analysts had suggested that a string of price cuts that had led to a price war among the biggest online trading firms, like Charles Schwab (SCHW) , TD Ameritrade (AMTD) , and E-Trade (ETFC) Financial, was largely over.
However, that may be changing as the banks, and some startup firms again pressure prices.
When Bank of America unveiled its plan last year, analysts and executives at firms like Schwab said they expected the move to have little impact, arguing that service and execution were valuable enough to clients that they would not switch brokers.
Wells Fargo said its offer would "appeal to all types of investors, from buy-and-hold investors to more active traders."
The bank said clients who trade more that 100 times a year will be charged $5.95 for each trade over the limit. Those customers with more than one WellsTrade account will receive 100 free trades for each account, Wells said.
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