Our Take

Beginner and intermediate DIY investors will be well-served by Merrill Edge's technology and range of offerings. As an online brokerage, Merrill Edge is a comprehensive platform with adequate technical and fundamental tools suitable for long-term investors and casual traders. One knock against Merrill Edge is that it continues to pay a low interest rate on uninvested cash, even in the persisting high-interest-rate environment. Offsetting this somewhat is a suite of strong portfolio analysis tools that can help self-directed investors evaluate their holdings regularly. A subsidiary of Bank of America, Merrill Edge is deeply integrated with the banking giant and offers a seamless banking/investing experience, perks (through the Preferred Rewards program), a wide variety of educational offerings, and strong in-person support.

Introduction

Merrill Edge, owned by Bank of America, combines online investing, trading, and banking services in one place. Investors can choose to manage their portfolios independently, work with advisors, or use Merrill Guided Investing for managed strategies. Bank of America has expanded Merrill Edge’s reach with thousands of investment centers and hundreds of financial solutions advisors, making it easier for customers to access personalized financial support online, by telephone, or in person. As of 2025, there are nearly 4 million client accounts with Merrill Edge Self-Directed and Merrill Guided Investing.

Launched in 2010, Merrill Edge appeals to long-term investors, particularly those already banking with Bank of America. Through the Preferred Rewards program, clients earn increasing benefits based on their combined balances, including discounts on investing, banking fees, loans, and more. With its mix of self-directed tools and guided options, Merrill Edge offers flexibility and convenience for investors looking to manage their finances under one roof. We’ll take an in-depth look at the platform, features, and fees to help you decide if it’s the right fit for your investing needs.

Pros & Cons

Pros Explained

• Seamless integration with Bank of America: If you have a bank account with Bank of America, you can easily link accounts, transfer funds instantly, and view your banking and investing information in one dashboard.
• Strong research and tools: Merrill Edge offers robust proprietary and third-party research, plus tools like screeners, asset allocation guidance, and access to the MarketPro platform for active traders.
• $0 commission and no minimums for self-directed accounts: Merrill Edge offers $0 commission for online stock, ETF, and options trades, making it competitive for self-directed investors who want to keep costs low.
• Access to Preferred Rewards program: Merrill Edge clients with an eligible Bank of America balance of at least $20,000 can qualify for the Preferred Rewards program, which offers benefits like higher credit card cash-back rates, lower mortgage origination fees, and even better interest rates on savings.
• Robust customer support: Merrill Edge offers strong customer service, including access to licensed financial advisors. Customers are able to call or chat online 24/7, or set up an appointment in person at a Bank of America branch.

Cons Explained

• Limited investment options: Merrill Edge does not offer access to futures, forex, cryptocurrency trading, or direct fractional share investing, which can be a downside for investors looking for additional ways to diversify.
• High fees for broker-assisted trades: Although self-directed trades are commission-free, broker-assisted trades can cost up to $29.95 per transaction.
• Limited mobile app functionality: The mobile app is functional for casual investors but lacks the depth and customization some users expect. These types of additional features can only be accessed on MarketPro, which is only available to investors on their computers.

Usability

Merrill Edge is very user-friendly. The platform has a clean, organized layout, making it easy to navigate among account information, research, and trading tools. For Bank of America customers, Merrill Edge offers seamless integration, allowing for efficient fund transfers and consolidated financial management in one place.

The mobile app offers a fairly basic experience for investors, while the desktop offering of MarketPro gives users more advanced options and tools to manage their accounts. Merrill Edge even has several videos explaining how to set up and use the Merrill Edge MarketPro platform. 

Trade Experience

The desktop experience is designed for in-depth analysis, more advanced trading strategies, and comprehensive portfolio management. Merrill Edge MarketPro is an advanced trading platform, built for active investors who want access to deeper market insight, more advanced order types, additional execution tools, and more control over their investments. Users can customize their trading workplace, stream data and research, and access advanced charting tools and screeners. MarketPro is only available for Merrill Edge clients on the desktop—not via the mobile app.

Mobile Trade Experience

Merrill Edge’s mobile app has a simplified layout and is designed for convenient, on-the-go account management. It is ideal for quickly checking balances, placing trades, reviewing news, and receiving alerts. The app supports basic trading of stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and options, as well as order status checks. There are a few research tools available on the app, including news, quotes, and basic charts. Customization is also limited, featuring mostly preset views. 

Range of Offerings

Investors with♌ Merrill Edge have a number of assets to choo✱se from, including:

• Stocks
• Mutual funds
• ETFs
• Fixed income
• CDs 
• Options

Merrill Edge supports margin trading. It is important to note that Merrill Edge does not offer futures, futures options, forex, cryptocurrency, or fractional share trading at this time.

Order Types

Merrill Edge supports all the standard order types: market order, limit order, stop quote order, stop quote limit order, trailing stop quote order, and trailing stop quote limit order. Investors also have the ability to enter extended hours orders and stage future orders, which can be saved for later.

Trading Technology

Merrill Edge offers a suite of trading technologies tailored to meet the needs of both casual investors and more active traders. At the forefront is Merrill Edge’s smart order router that aims to catch the top trade execution price for stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, options, and fixed income. Unlike many competitors, Merrill does not receive 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:payment for order flow routed to third parties and regularly monitors the quality of its trade executions. Merrill reports that 99.15% of orders are executed at or better than the quoted price, the average execution speed is 0.007 seconds, and it delivers average savings of $22.60 on market orders of 1,000 shares.

Clients can trade on MarketPro, Merrill’s advanced desktop platform, which provides real-time streaming data, customizable dashboards, and interactive charting tools. For those who prefer mobile trading, Merrill Edge provides apps that offer real-time quotes, watchlists, and access to research and market news. The mobile app, available for both iOS and Android, supports trading across various asset classes and has several banking features.

Costs

Merrill Edge is transparent when it comes to costs. While it offers $0 commissions for most trades, there may be other costs associated with owning specific types of investments, as well as🎃 some miscellaneous fees:

• $0 minimum investment
• Account fees: Unlimited $0 commission online stock, ETF, and options trades ($0 option trades are subject to a $0.65 per contract fee)
• Transaction fee from the sale of ETFs: Between $0.01 and $0.03 per $1,000 of principal
• Broker-assisted trades: $29.95
• $0 fee for partial account transfers, web bill payment, checkbooks, unlimited check writing, Merrill Edge CMA Access Visa ATM transactions
• Retirement and education accounts: $0 trading fees and commissions
• $49.95 closeout fee and full account transfer fee
• $0 on brokered CDs and treasuries (including auction and secondary)
• $1 per bond ($10 min, $250 max) on other secondary trades, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, and government agencies
  

How This Broker ꧅Makes Money From You and for You

Investors with Merrill Edge enjoy $0 commissions and $0 mini💮mum investment to open the account. However, the broker generates revenues in other ways. Here’s how Merrill Edge make𝓡s money for you:

• Interest on cash: You can choose to open a Cash Management Account (CMA), and money can be swept into an interest-bearing account at Bank of America until you are ready to invest. 
• Earn rewards and benefits with the Preferred Rewards program: Investors must have a minimum $20,000 combined banking and investment account balance to be eligible. Investors are able to receive an interest rate boost on savings accounts and interest rate discounts on things like home equity loans and auto loans.

Some ways that Merrill Edge makes money from you:

• Broker-assisted trades: Any time you access a broker to make a trade, an additional fee is involved.
• Option, bond, or redemption fees: Even though commissions are $0 for stocks and ETFs, trading options and bonds does incur fees.
• Margin borrowing: Merrill Edge collects the spread between the rate it charges for margin trades and the rate at which it borrows the money. If you are approved to borrow on margin, your rate will be determined based on several factors; individuals have to call Merrill directly to get more information about margin accounts.
  

Account and Research Amenities

Merrill Edge account holders have access to a number of research and investment tools, including independent research from providers such as Morningstar and CF🗹RA, as well as propriet💮ary insights.

Stock Screener

Investors are able to research individual stocks through the Idea Builder if searching by theme is important. They can also enter a company's trade symbol or name and choose the option to read that company’s stock story.

ETF Screener

Fund Story provides investors with quick overviews of ETF performance, along with the individual investments in the ETF, analyst ratings, and more. Fund Story provides interactive research tools to use your own criteria to research ETFs according to category, ratings, fees, risk, and performance.

Mutual Fund Screener

Investors can also utilize Fund Story to view the holdings contained in mutual funds. Criteria can be set to monitor performance and evaluate third-party ratings, making it easy for investors to analyze the fundamentals of the mutual fund.

Options Screener

Merrill Edge offers investors the option strategy assistant, Optionsplay, to explore trade ideas based on strategy and gain insights into risk exposure. This tool is integrated into MarketPro, so it is a seamless experience to enter a symbol, see the trend, view different options strategies, and implement them. 

Fixed Income Screener

The Merrill Edge fixed income screener lets you customize searches to find a variety of investments. Investors are able to customize screens for later or use pre-defined screens to quickly identify opportunities based on the entered criteria.

Tools and Calculators 

Merrill Edge offers a comprehensive suite of tools and calculators for retirement, investing, college planning, and personal finance.

• Retirement
• Personal retirement calculator
• Retirement account selector tool
• Roth IRA conversion calculator
• RMD calculator
• 401(k) rollover calculator
• Social Security benefits calculator
  
  
• Investing
• Inflation calculator
• Compounding calculator
  
  
• College Planning
• College planning calculator
• 529 plan state tax calculator
  
  
• Personal Finance
• Cash flow calculator
• Estate tax calculator
• Net worth estimator
• Withholding
• Income growth
  

Trading Idea Generator 

Merrill Edge has a trading idea generator, Idea Builder, which allows investors to build a portfolio based on themes such as health, sustainable development, environmental, and many more. From their theme of interest, investors gain access to research and data on the topic. Idea Builder also helps investors find stocks, mutual funds, or ETFs that align with the chosen theme. 

News 

​Merrill Edge investors have access to a range of news feeds and insights to stay informed about market developments. The platform offers market updates and news on the Merrill CIO Audiocast series, providing timely commentary on market trends and economic events. Additionally, investors can explore in-depth articles and perspectives on various investment topics through Merrill Edge Research and Insights.

Third-Party Research

In additio🦹n to proprietary research and market insights, Merrill Edge provides investors with access to a wide range of third-party research from sources such as Morningstar and CFRA. 

Charting

Merrill Edge has full charting capabilities and a plethora of customizations available on MarketPro, where investors get streaming, real-time data. Investors can choose from bar, line, OHLC, mountain, area plot, and candlestick charts, and a variety of charting intervals. Additionally, investors can overlay and customize one or more studies onto their chart, access drawing tools, add flags to highlight fundamental and technical events, and place trades directly from the chart.

Cash Management

Merrill Edge offers investors a self-directed cash management account (CMA). This type of account allows investors to trade and research stocks, mutual funds, fixed income, and more, while providing check-writing capabilities, online bill payment, and a Visa debit card. Sweep and no-sweep options are available, meaning that you can have cash swept into an interest-bearing Bank of America account, or it can simply remain in your account as cash.

Fractional Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP)

Merrill Edge clients can enroll in a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:dividend reinvestment plan. However, the broker doesn't offer fractional shares at this♎ time.

SRI/ESG Research Amenities

Merrill Edge makes i✅t ꦚeasy to choose socially responsible or environmental investments with Idea Builder, powered by MSCI. Investors can explore themes addressing global challenges to invest in companies that focus on clean energy, climate, gender equality, or education. 

Portfolio Analysis

​Merrill Edge offers a range of portfolio analysis tools designed to help investors align their investments with their financial goals and risk tolerance. The Asset Allocator tool allows clients to compare their current asset allocation to a target allocation, providing customized recommendations to help rebalance their portfolio as needed. This feature aids investors in maintaining a diversified portfolio that aligns with their investment objectives.

Education

Merrill Edge offers several educational resources, starting with beginner investment basics and working up to more sophisticated investor levels. There are also educational resources explaining specific investment products, such as stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, fixed income, and options. For new investors, there are specific resources, videos, definitions, and examples that walk beginners through what to expect and how to get started. Additionally, there is a Merrill Edge Investing Classroom, powered by Morningstar, which provides courses and tests to help expand your investor knowledge.

Customer Service

• Call 888.637.3343, available 24/7     
• Live online chat, available 24/7– blue “Chat” bubble at the bottom right of the website    
• Schedule or walk in for an appointment at a local financial center with a financial specialist
• Connect with Merrill Edge via social media:
• X
• LinkedIn
• Speak with a live broker (there is an additional fee for any trades placed via the broker) 

Bank of America also has Erica, an AI-driven virtual assistant, that can access quotes, track account performance, place trades, and connect you with a Merrill advisor from your mobile banking app.

Security and Reliability

Merrill is committed to protecting your personal information from fraud, so much so that it offers the following guarantee: “We will reimburse you for quantifiable monetary losses that occur in any of your Merrill accounts due to unauthorized, third-party activity.”

• The cybersecurity team provides comprehensive 24/7 monitoring to protect clients against threats. 
• Fingerprint scanning or face recognition is used for secure mobile account login.
• Mobile and email alerts are sent to confirm all changes in profile information or new service enrollments.
• Secure document sharing and scanning is available.
• Two-factor authentication for accounts is available (but optional).
• Merrill provides free online fraud prevention software to monitor your account for malware.
• All account logins are recorded for verification.
  

Transparency

Merrill takes pride in providing transparency when it comes to the fees associated with each type of account. Investors can access a clean pricing page, which breaks down every commission, fee, or service for self-directed and managed accounts by account type.

Available Account Types

Merrill Edge has several different account types to choose from to meet your investing needs, including: 

• Individual brokerage
• Joint brokerage (up to 4 people)
• Custodial (UGMA/UTMA)
• Trust
• Estate
• Retirement
• Traditional individual retirement account (IRA)
• Roth IRA
• Rollover IRA
• College savings
• 529 plan
• Custodial
• Small business
• Small business 401(k) 
• 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Simplified employee pension (SEP) IRA 
• SIMPLE IRA
• Individual 401(k)
• Business investor

The Bottom Line

Merrill Edge is a strong option for a wide range of investors—from beginner to intermediate. The company’s integration with Bank of America conveniently provides a consolidated dashboard for investors to view their investing and banking information. Through the Preferred Rewards program, clients can access vaꦐluable perks and pricing discounts that scale with their combined account balances. 

However, Merrill Edge isn’t built for high-frequency and advanced traders. It lacks support for complex order types, strategy backtesting, and trade automation. The platform also doesn’t offer access to certain asset classes, including futures, forex, or cryptocurrencies, which may be a deal-breaker for more active or diversified traders. The brokerage does offer MarketPro, a user-friendly desktop trading platfor🃏m; a solid mobile app; quality customer service; and a robust mix of proprietary and third-party research that meets the needs of𓆉 most everyday investors.

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