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Is TD Ameritrade a Scam?
Most people are probably familiar with the name TD Ameritrade. TD Ameritrade was one of the most
popular brokers in the U.S. Charles Schwab acquired TD Ameritrade, and former TD Ameritrade clients now use Schwab for account access. In this article, we will examine whether TD Ameritrade was a safe and
legitimate company and provide a brief review of what happened to it.
TD Ameritrade Company Overview
TD Ameritrade was in business for decades and became one of the largest brokers in the U.S.
TD Ameritrade was also a publicly traded company for many years before Charles Schwab acquired it.
Before the Schwab acquisition, TD Ameritrade had over
11 million client accounts and over $1 trillion in assets under administration. It also provided custodial services for thousands of investment advisors. Today, TD Ameritrade is no longer a standalone retail brokerage platform. Schwab and TD Ameritrade are now one combined company, and former TD Ameritrade clients access their accounts through Schwab.
Is TD Ameritrade Legitimate?
Operating in the financial industry and, more specifically, operating as a broker/dealer, TD Ameritrade was a highly regulated company. The main regulators and oversight bodies for brokerage activity included the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and state securities regulators.
With this many regulators overseeing the business, and with TD Ameritrade’s long operating history,
TD Ameritrade was a legitimate brokerage firm, not a scam. Its parent company is now Charles Schwab, and former TD Ameritrade customers should review Schwab’s current policies, pricing, and protections before opening or maintaining an account.
TD Ameritrade Reviews & Complaints
Any company that was in business for decades and was the size of TD Ameritrade was going
to have some history of negative reviews and complaints. The good news is that there are a few
different public resources that anybody can use to browse through customer reviews and
customer complaints about the firm.
TD Ameritrade has had a profile with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) since 1980 and
currently has an
A+ rating. BBB also notes that, as of May 10, 2024, TD Ameritrade was acquired by Charles Schwab, and former clients can file a complaint or customer review through Charles Schwab’s BBB profile. TD Ameritrade is not BBB accredited.
Like all brokers, TD Ameritrade has a public profile with FINRA. Its CRD number with FINRA is 7870,
and anybody can use this number to view its profile. Its BrokerCheck report currently lists 85 final regulatory events, 1 final civil event, and 145 arbitration disclosures.
TD Ameritrade Awards & Accolades
TD Ameritrade had stacked its trophy case with many credible awards in the brokerage industry.
Today, however, current broker awards are generally issued to Charles Schwab, not TD Ameritrade.
For 2026, Investopedia named Charles Schwab
Best for Mobile Trading & Investing and Best for Investor Education. Schwab continues to use the thinkorswim platform, one of the best-known trading platforms that came from TD Ameritrade.
TD Ameritrade collected many awards in prior years, and Schwab has continued to promote thinkorswim as a major part of its trading lineup. It would have been difficult for a non-legitimate or scam company to
repeatedly win awards for its business year after year.
Is TD Ameritrade a Safe Place to Keep Your Money & Investments?
TD Ameritrade is no longer the retail brokerage destination for new customers because former TD Ameritrade accounts have moved to Schwab. At Schwab, brokerage accounts have multiple layers of protection, including Securities Investor Protection Corporation insurance (SIPC insurance), FDIC insurance for eligible bank deposits or bank-sweep deposits, excess SIPC coverage, and Schwab’s security protections.
Schwab offers protections for eligible losses from unauthorized account activity, provided clients follow the required security practices and promptly report suspicious activity. This type of protection is separate from market-risk protection and does not prevent investment losses caused by normal price movements.
Investors’ money is never insured against losses in the market. SIPC protection applies if a member broker-dealer fails and customer securities or cash are missing. SIPC protects cash and securities in a brokerage account up to a total of $500,000, including a maximum of $250,000 for cash claims. FDIC insurance can apply to eligible deposits at Schwab Bank or to eligible bank-sweep deposits at program banks, but it does not apply to stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, or other securities.
If SIPC coverage is exhausted, Schwab provides excess SIPC insurance protection for securities and cash. Schwab states that its excess SIPC program has a $600 million aggregate limit. Commodity interests, futures contracts, and cash in futures accounts are not protected by SIPC.
Is TD Ameritrade a Scam or Legitimate? The Conclusion.
Based on all the information presented in this article, the final verdict is that TD Ameritrade
was not a scam, and it was a legitimate brokerage firm. TD Ameritrade is now part of Charles Schwab, so investors should evaluate Schwab’s current platform, pricing, protections, and policies.
TD Ameritrade Complaints
While the advanced desktop platform, thinkorswim,
has received compliments for many of its strong points, some customers have complained over the years about bugs, platform changes, and the transition from TD Ameritrade to Schwab. Schwab now offers thinkorswim desktop, thinkorswim web, and thinkorswim mobile.
Traders no longer need to use TD Ameritrade’s old three-app setup. Schwab now offers the Schwab Mobile app and the thinkorswim mobile app. The Schwab Mobile app is designed for general account management, while thinkorswim mobile is designed for active trading, charting, and advanced order entry.
Despite thinkorswim’s strong reputation for technical tools, Schwab does not currently offer every possible device-based trading platform that every competitor has offered in the past. Fidelity, for example, has offered some tools that Schwab does not match exactly.
Checking account and savings account features are available through Charles Schwab Bank. Schwab also offers mortgage-related services through Rocket Mortgage, so former TD Ameritrade customers now have access to a broader banking and lending lineup through Schwab than TD Ameritrade had as a standalone broker.
Website charting at the old TD Ameritrade site is no longer the main issue because Schwab has retired the TD Ameritrade platforms. Schwab’s current trading lineup includes thinkorswim, which provides hundreds of technical indicators, studies, and drawing tools.
While Schwab does offer margin accounts, its loan rates can be on the high side. Currently, a margin
debit of $10,000 or under costs 11.75%.
Robinhood charges just
5%.
While broker-assisted trades are available at Schwab, the firm does charge an extra service fee for them —
$25.
Trading a transaction-fee mutual fund at Schwab can cost up to $74.95 on the purchase side. By contrast,
some competing brokers charge less for certain mutual fund trades, and some firms offer more commission-free fund choices depending on the fund family and platform.
And the last TD Ameritrade complaint: the old TD Ameritrade platform is gone, and former customers now need to use Schwab’s website, apps, support system, and branch network. Schwab does offer phone support, online chat, and branch access, but some former TD Ameritrade customers may still prefer the old TD Ameritrade experience.
TD Ameritrade Bullish Signs
Even though some former TD Ameritrade clients have grievances, Schwab now brings a lot to the table. For
example:
$0 online commission on listed stock and ETF trades. It doesn’t get any better!
Schwab offers phone support, online chat, and local branch support. Former TD Ameritrade clients
can also work with Schwab representatives through the company’s current customer-service channels.
Schwab offers one of the best selections of technology of any online discount broker. Its
highest-rated trading platform is thinkorswim. It has advanced charting tools, hundreds of
technical indicators and studies, and paperMoney practice trading. thinkorswim is available in desktop, web, and mobile versions.
There is no opening deposit requirement for a Schwab brokerage account. This policy allows traders to open an account with no money down and try out the broker’s technology. Even better, there are no account maintenance fees for standard Schwab brokerage accounts.
Thousands of mutual funds are available at Schwab, including many funds available through Schwab Mutual Fund OneSource without a transaction fee.
Schwab also offers a broad lineup of ETFs, stocks, bonds, options, mutual funds, CDs, futures, and forex. Some products, such as futures and forex, require separate approval and are not available to every client.
TD Ameritrade Complaints Summary
Former TD Ameritrade investors may complain about the transition to Schwab, platform changes, and some fees. But they also get a lot of
valuable services in return, including Schwab’s current technology, research, branch network, account protections, and the thinkorswim platform. TD Ameritrade was a legitimate broker, and its former retail business now lives inside Charles Schwab.
Chad Morris has been analyzing investment firms for Brokerage-Review.com since 2015. Backed by FINRA Series 65, 66, and SIE credentials, his work reflects a deep knowledge of the retail brokerage industry and digital trading tools.
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