Bank of America Brokerage: Key Points
• Through its subsidiary Merrill Edge, Bank of America offers self-directed and investment-advisory accounts.
• A good list of tradable products can be accessed through a brokerage account with Merrill Edge.
• Merrill Edge has decent, but not great, digital trading tools.
Overview of Brokerage Accounts at Bank of America
Bank of America owns Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, and through this division, a variety of investment accounts is available. Here’s the rundown on investing services at Merrill.
Investing
Investment-advisory and brokerage accounts are both available through Merrill, which is the company’s full-service firm. Merrill Edge is the company’s online discount firm, and both account modes are available here as well (with the lowest fee schedules and minimums). Merrill Edge offers trading in the following asset classes:
- Stocks (including penny and OTC securities)
- Option contracts
- Mutual funds
- ETFs
- Closed-end funds
- Bonds and fixed income
Merrill Edge’s advisory program uses ETFs and mutual funds. It is not strictly a robo program, as portfolios are constructed with professional oversight, although it is still a relatively low-cost service. Full-service managed accounts are also available through Merrill, where clients can get a wider range of Wealth Management services, including personalized financial planning from a dedicated advisor.
Both Merrill and Merrill Edge offer a variety of tax-advantaged account types. Examples include 529 plans, personal retirement accounts, small-business 401(k) plans, and custodial accounts.
Banking
Merrill Edge customers can attach checkwriting and a Visa debit card to their brokerage accounts. These cash-management tools don’t create a separate bank account; they are simply attached to an existing brokerage account. Some tax-advantaged accounts don’t qualify for them.
Brokerage accounts at Merrill Edge and Merrill can participate in the company’s FDIC-sweep program, which automatically moves uninvested cash into Bank of America deposit accounts that receive FDIC insurance. Although the FDIC protection is nice, the yields can be very low.
A variety of money market mutual funds are available at Merrill from families like Fidelity and BlackRock.
It’s possible to skip the brokerage-bank combination altogether and go straight to Bank of America to open a checking or savings account. Such a deposit account can be linked to Merrill accounts, making it easy to move money among accounts, including linked Bank of America credit card accounts.
Bank of America Brokerage Account Fees
Despite the long list of financial services through this very large company, fees and minimums are fairly reasonable, at least at the discount firm. Merrill Edge requires no minimum deposit to open a self-directed brokerage account, and many trades are commission-free.
A managed account opened through Merrill Guided Investing has a $1,000 minimum for growth-focused strategies and a $50,000 minimum for income-focused strategies, with an annual program fee of 0.45%. Adding an advisor through Merrill Guided Investing with Advisor raises the minimum to $20,000 for growth-focused strategies and $50,000 for income-focused strategies, with an annual fee of 0.85%.
Numbers at the full-service firm Merrill will be different. Brokerage and advisory costs vary by program and service level. For Merrill Edge self-directed accounts, broker-assisted trades cost the lower of $29.95 or 5.00% of principal. Advisory solutions at the full-service side can have higher minimums and asset-based fees, depending on the program selected.
The checkbook and Visa card available to eligible Merrill Edge customers are free. The card does not have a Merrill ATM transaction fee, although ATM operator fees can still apply depending on the machine used.
Margin Service
Margin trading is available in brokerage accounts at Merrill. One drawback is that the
pricing schedule is fairly complicated. The cost of borrowing is determined by three
factors:
- A base lending rate, which resets every week
- Debit balance
- Total household assets within the Bank of America family
Website
Brokerage and advisory accounts can easily be managed on the Merrill Edge website. Self-directed tools include charting, security research, and order entry. Under the Research tab in the top menu, there are links to search tools for options, stocks, and funds. The options tools are fairly advanced.
Then there is MarketPro. This is Merrill Edge’s advanced browser-based platform, and it does provide a good number of useful tools. Examples include Level II quotes, fundamental analysis, OptionsPlay, prices on forex pairs (which are not tradable), an economic calendar, and more.
The order tickets on the website and MarketPro are the same. Available trade types include stop and trailing orders.
Mobile App
Merrill Edge hasn’t ignored mobile customers, which is why it offers a user-friendly mobile app with the same order ticket style found on its computer platforms. Options and mutual funds have their own tickets. Charting, however, is much more limited, with no real tools and only a line chart format. There is also no video news.
On the positive side, there is a large amount of research in the app. These materials can be found under the Research tab in the bottom menu. During our review, we found news articles, analyst reports from CFRA and Morningstar, and statistics like dividend yield and average volume. There is also a glossary that would be useful for beginners. Mobile check deposit is another nice feature.
Other Software
Merrill Edge does not have an app for Apple Watch or a desktop platform. Its mobile app does work on tablets, which is one positive point.
Further Services
Extended-hours Trading: Pre-market and after-hours trading are both available at Merrill Edge.
Fractional Shares: Missing in action.
IRA Service: Merrill Edge has Individual Retirement Accounts (with a $49.95 termination fee).
Dividend Reinvestment Plan: Available free of charge.
Stock-Lending Income Program: Not available.
IPO Access: Merrill Edge does not offer Initial Public Offerings.
Recurring Mutual Fund Purchases: Possible.
Our Recommendations
Long-Term Investors & Retirement Savers: A tax-deferred account with Merrill or Merrill Edge combined
with the company’s educational materials could be a good long-term path.
Stock and ETF Trading: A brokerage account with Merrill Edge combined with MarketPro could be a
low-cost strategy, although thinkorswim
is the better platform.
Small Accounts: A self-directed (non-IRA) account with Merrill Edge can work.
Beginning Investors: A managed account with Merrill or a lower-cost personal advisor.
Mutual Funds: With the Merrill Edge fund screener, we found 2,619 funds. At
Charles Schwab, we found 6,157.
We would go with Charles Schwab.
Bank of America Brokerage Review Verdict
Bank of America offers some decent, but not spectacular, investing services through its subsidiary Merrill.
Updated on 3/26/2026.
Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience
as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing
expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found
managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
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