He is a CFA Charterholder and previously worked as an industry analyst at a buyside investment firm. Baker is passionate about helping people make sense of complicated financial topics so that they can better plan for their financial futures. On streaming charts, you can view six chart types, including candlestick, line, bar, and mountain, as well as over 90 chart studies and drawing tools. If you are self-directed stock trader or investor, Ally has extensive research and tools to help you scan stocks, screen for new ideas and analyze performance. Plus, Ally Invest makes research and data free so you get a whole lot more for your money than simply low commissions costs. Ally Invest may be an unfamiliar name to U.S. traders but don’t let that lull you into thinking the platform is second rate.

Through Ally Invest, traders can gain access to 500 commission-free ETFs, as well as a substantial selection of mutual funds. You won’t find any international equity or options on Ally Invest, but you can trade forex using a separate Ally platform. Ally Invest’s browser-based platform offers quick trading capabilities, real-time streaming quotes and data, a customizable dashboard, and access to all of the broker’s tools. Customers who frequently trade from various computers — home and work, for example — will appreciate this web-based platform, which doesn’t require any downloads. Ally also allows its customers to trade via mobile devices with Ally Mobile or Ally Forex, the brokerage’s app dedicated to forex trading. Ally Bank offers highly competitive savings and money market accounts, neither of which require a minimum daily balance, minimum opening deposit or charge monthly account fees.

Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers. Their tools are easy to use, but some experience is necessary to understand them and use them to full effect. The lack of local branches may concern some, but their 24/7 online customer service will be fine for most individuals.

That’s the minimum you will need to be able to take full advantage of the account. Use this tool to follow groups of securities, tracking their market data. The investment brokerage was renamed Ally Invest, retaining much of what’s good about TradeKing, while putting Ally Bank’s own winning spin on the new entity.

• Add to that an active trader bonus which reduces stock commissions to just $3.95 and options contract to $0.50 per contract, and you end up with commission costs that rival the best discount brokers.
• It’ll give you a chance to test your trading skills before going live with real money.
• If you are a client of the Ally Bank, you can easily jump from the bank and the brokerage, since you can gain access to both through the mobile software.

Often, Ally Invest ends up feeling like just another tab on the dashboard of the entire Ally website. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories, except where prohibited by law for our mortgage, home equity and other home lending products.

Overview of Ally Invest fees and charges

Often brokers charge a reduced fee for a partial transfer, but in general, $50 isn’t as high as some other brokerages. Like many online brokerages these days, Ally Invest has no account minimum, which is a great perk for someone who doesn’t have much to invest in the beginning. Some brokerages have account minimums between a few hundred and a few thousand dollars.

Our primary objective is to offer a balanced and informative assessment, assisting individuals in making informed decisions about their investment choices. Another of the major advantages of Ally is that you can open a self-directed account with no minimum initial deposit. This is made to order for new and ally invest review small investors, who were just breaking into self-directed investing. This is the perfect brokerage if you want to perhaps start out using the managed option, and then slowly work into self-directed investing. They offer several attractive CDs, that provide some of the highest interest rates on the web.

The account minimum is a pleasant $0, so there are fewer obstacles for new investors. You can trade stocks, bonds, funds, options and other equities through Ally Invest. I’ll get into what types of accounts you may want to consider opening or moving to Ally Invest in a bit. Consider Ally Invest if you want a well-rounded trading platform with diversified investment choices, advanced tools and features and optional automated investing.

• Its articles, interactive tools and other content are provided to you for free, as self-help tools and for informational purposes only.
• Ally Invest offers both self-directed investing and managed accounts.
• The library has an extensive archive of information and date and brings both visual slides as well as interactive media to the user experience.
• These will help you analyze the performance of stocks, ETFs, and indices.

Ally Invest will appeal to active traders looking for low costs and margins, new investors, and Ally Bank’s online banking customers. More active traders may miss the functionality for trailing stops and conditional orders on Ally Invest’s platforms. Ally Invest is a great choice for those interested in online banking with Ally and existing Ally Bank customers because they can easily see their full financial picture on one platform. Ally Invest has options for investors of all experience levels, including self-directed and managed accounts.

Mobile Platform 📱

Neither our writers nor our editors receive direct compensation of any kind to publish information on tokenist.com. Our company, Tokenist Media LLC, is community supported and may receive a small commission when you purchase products or services through links on our website. Click here for a full list of our partners and an in-depth explanation on how we get paid. Users are given access to Ally Invest Live, which is fast and easy to use. It is easy to learn for beginners and includes almost everything experienced traders would need. All new Ally Invest accounts, regardless of the opening amount, will have commission-free stock trading.

Please don’t interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. Finder.com compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don’t provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.

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Traders should find a lot to like here, among the commissions, trading platform and the variety of trading securities on offer, though long-term investors may bemoan the lack of mutual funds. Zacks Trade is a broker that should appeal to active traders with its advanced trading platform and ample research offering. New investors may be turned off by the high account minimum and fees for mutual fund trades. Low margin rates, high interest rates on cash balances, and a leading number of no-transaction-fee mutual funds serve to make this broker a top pick. The bank offers some of the best rates out of any banking platform and is very handy since it can be accessed directly through Ally Invest’s digital trading platforms. Ally Bank provides users with money market accounts, online savings, interest checking and high-yield certificates of deposit.

Mutual Funds 📊

That said, if you’re unsure whether Ally Invest is right for you, check out our other brokerage reviews before making your final decision. Ally Bank’s Money Market Account pays high rates of return and comes with no monthly maintenance fees. You can also get unlimited deposits and ATM withdrawals, as well as make remote deposits. Ally Bank offers interest-bearing checking, that enables you to deposit checks remotely. And even though the Bank has no local branches, you will have ATM access at more than 43,000 ATMs around the country. The Ally Bank relationship is one of the benefits that makes Ally Invest really stand out.

We’ve also reviewed the Ally Managed Portfolios robo-advisor service and will take a deeper look at Ally Invest to help you decide whether it is the right fit for your investing needs. However, only a few account types are offered and If you’re looking to trade forex, futures or crypto, you’ll need to look elsewhere. The mobile app remains an attractive place for options traders but is a no-go for those looking for mutual funds or a wide range of account types. Firstrade is a solid brokerage offering that may particularly appeal to options traders because of its commission-free options trades.

Account Fees, Commissions and Limits

It offers real-time position account information, as well as a fully integrated charting tool. It also offers a variety of single and contingent order types, such as If/then, If/then OCO, and Trailing Stops. The mobile app provides charting tools, price alerts, real-time news and commentary, and the basic features of the web app. Ally Bank has $70 billion in customer deposits, and is also one of the most important auto lenders in the country, serving more than 4 million customers. Ally Invest offers both self-directed investing and managed accounts.