Overview of JP Morgan Chase and Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab and JP Morgan Chase’s new low-cost brokerage firm You Invest Trade try to attract investors with brand name and discounted rates. There are many
differences between these two companies, however. You’ll definitely want to be aware of them before opening an account with one of the two
firms. Here they are in important categories:
Cost
| Broker Fees |
Stock/ETF
Commission |
Mutual Fund
Commission |
Options
Commission |
Maintenance
Fee |
Annual IRA
Fee |
|
Charles Schwab
|
$0
|
$49.95
|
$0.65 per contract
|
$0
|
$0
|
|
Chase
|
$0
|
$0
|
$0 per contract
|
$0
|
$0
|
|
Firstrade
|
$0
|
$0
|
$0 per contract
|
$0
|
$0
|
Services
Promotions
Firstrade: Get 2 FREE stocks and $0 commission in ALL trades!
Charles Schwab: Get commission-free online stock trades.
Chase:
Commission-free online stock, ETF, and options trades.
Trading Software
Schwab’s website is easy to use and has lots of helpful resources. There’s a trade bar that appears at the bottom of the screen. It provides important security data, such as volume and bid and ask numbers. Clicking on ‘News’ or ‘Chart’ produces a small pop-up window with the relevant topic. Unfortunately, trades cannot be placed directly on the tool; although an order ticket on the website is a good replacement. Extended hours are available, and time-in-force options include day only, GTC, fill or kill, and immediate or cancel.
The next step up from the regular website is StreetSmart Central, a browser-based trading system. It is taken from optionsXpress, which Schwab purchased. It is able to trade stocks, ETF’s, options, and futures. Because the software comes from optionsXpress, there are very good derivative tools.
Now we come to Schwab’s crown jewel for trading software. Called StreetSmart Edge, it is the company’s desktop platform. It offers live streaming of CNBC and a simulated trading login.
Advanced charting is available at all three locations: the website, Central, and Edge. We found company events, comparisons, drawing tools, and technical studies. Central and Edge are better than the website, although this third option is very usable for most purposes.
Now we come to Chase, and there’s not going to be much comparison. Chase You Invest Trade doesn’t offer a trade bar, a browser platform, or a desktop program. All trading takes place on simple web pages, and we’re emphasizing simple here. The broker’s trading ticket is comparable to Schwab’s website ticket, although You Invest offers fewer time-in-force options. Direct-access routing is not possible at You Invest, although it is available on StreetSmart Edge.
Charting is even worse. The You Invest site only provides a small chart with a handful of time frames. There are no technical studies, nor are there company events, comparisons, or drawing tools. A graph cannot be shown full screen, and there are no display options or customization choices. You would be better off using a free service on the Web, such as Yahoo or Barchart.
Mobile Platforms
A mobile app can be used to buy and sell investments at either firm. We thought You Invest’s would be very good because it’s the same app as the regular Chase Bank app. But when we logged into our brokerage account, we couldn’t find mobile check deposit, funds transfer, or bill pay. These functions are available on Schwab’s mobile app.
For charting, the You Invest app offers the same basic chart as the website does, which means it’s almost useless. On the Schwab platform, by comparison, there are several charting tools, including company events and indicators. A graph can be rotated horizontally, and there are quite a few graph styles.
Also on Schwab’s app are option chains. Clicking on a bid or ask price produces the appropriate derivative trading ticket. We found live streaming of NBC’s business channel along with several other audio and video resources. We liked Schwab’s market news section better than Chase’s. On the flip side, the Schwab app did crash a few times during our testing. Both apps are compatible with Touch ID.
Customer Support
Schwab clients can reach a company representative anytime of the night or day. There is an online chat function on its website, and a dedicated phone line is for Chinese speakers. On top of all this, Schwab operates a large nationwide system of brick-and-mortar offices that provide traditional service.
If you would rather try to take care of issues yourself, the Schwab website has a very useful self-help section where it’s possible to manage alerts, sign up for paperless documents, submit a travel alert, and more.
Chase’s new discount broker is only open from 8 till 9, EST—and these hours are only during the week. The brokerage firm is closed on Sunday, although a Saturday session lasts from 9 until 5. You Invest does not offer any branch locations.
Mutual Funds and ETF’s
Using the You Invest mutual fund screener in our trial account, we found just north of 3,500 securities that were available for purchase by new investors. This is a very small list compared to most rivals, although it actually is close to the 5,700 we found at Schwab. One difference is that all of You Invest’s mutual funds have no load and no transaction fee. On Schwab’s list, there are about 3,400 that have the same fee structure.
Both brokers offer ETF's. The biggest difference here is Schwab’s excellent ETF resource center on
its website, whereas You Invest has just a few materials. Both brokers offer all ETF's commission-free.
Promotions
Firstrade: Get 2 FREE stocks and $0 commission in ALL trades!
Charles Schwab: Get commission-free online stock trades.
Chase:
Commission-free online stock, ETF, and options trades.
Recommendation
If you’re going to buy and sell mutual funds, we definitely suggest Schwab over You Invest. Besides
the sheer number of securities, Schwab has much better mutual fund resources.
If you need advanced trading tools, once again go with Schwab.
We can recommend You Invest for active option traders. Other than the value that $0 commissions
provides, Schwab seems to outperform Chase’s new broker in most categories.
JP Morgan Chase vs Schwab - Results
JP Morgan Chase's new online broker You Invest doesn’t quite measure up to its rival here. Spending a little bit more money will get you a lot more at Schwab.
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