Chase Brokerage Review
Chase Bank’s brokerage service, officially called J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing, offers low-cost brokerage
services that attempt to compete with other securities firms. Sometimes J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing succeeds,
but other times it falls short. Here’s the rundown:
J.P. Morgan Investing Pricing and Minimum Deposit
| Investments | Commissions |
|---|
| Stocks and ETFs | $0 |
| Options | $0.65 per contract |
| Mutual funds | $0 |
| U.S. treasury bills, notes and bonds | $0 (secondary trades only) |
|
New Issues (brokered CDs)
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$0 |
|
Secondary Markets (corporate bonds, municipal bonds, brokered CDs)
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$10.00 / Trade + $1.00 / Bond Over
10 Bonds ($250 Maximum)
|
| Investments | stocks, mutual funds, money market funds, options, bonds, treasuries, brokered CDs, ETFs |
| Minimum deposit to open an account | $1 to open a self-directed account; $2,000 minimum equity required to trade on margin |
| Fees | Chase brokerage fees |
Bulls Rave About
Zero commissions. It’s not just stocks and ETFs. Online trades of options, mutual funds, money market funds, and U.S. Treasury securities also have $0 base commissions, although options contract fees and other charges may apply.
Account linking. One login is all it takes.
Bears Rave About
Limited cash-management tools. Although uninvested cash is placed in an interest-bearing bank deposit sweep account, the brokerage account does not offer checkwriting or a debit card.
No standalone robo option. J.P. Morgan currently offers online self-directed investing and advisor-led services rather than a separate robo-advisor.
Elementary software. Definitely time for an upgrade.
Chase Brokerage Investments
J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing accounts have no minimum balance requirement and no annual maintenance fee, although certain transaction and service fees may apply. The brokerage offers a good range of investment products. Besides exchange-traded funds, there are mutual funds, stocks, options, bonds, brokered CDs, and other fixed-income products.
Most online trades inside a Chase brokerage account have no base commission, although there are a few exceptions. Options trades have a per-contract fee of 65 cents. Online secondary-market trades in corporate bonds, municipal bonds, government agency bonds, and brokered CDs cost $10 per trade, plus $1 for each bond over 10 bonds, with a $250 maximum. Online mutual fund trades have a $0 transaction fee, although fund expenses, sales charges, and short-term redemption fees may still apply.
There are no flat annual maintenance fees on J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing accounts. Individual and joint taxable accounts are available. Advisor-led managed accounts are offered separately through J.P. Morgan Wealth Management.
J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing does not offer futures, forex, direct cryptocurrency trading, or direct trading in non-U.S. securities. Cryptocurrency ETFs and some U.S.-listed ADRs are available. J.P. Morgan now offers UTMA custodial accounts and trust accounts in addition to individual and joint taxable accounts.
Retirement Choices
Besides taxable accounts, J.P. Morgan also offers Individual Retirement Accounts. The online Self-Directed Investing IRA choices are Traditional and Roth IRAs. Money from a former employer’s retirement plan can be rolled into an appropriate IRA. SEP and SIMPLE IRAs are not available through the online self-directed program.
Investors will find target-date mutual funds from several fund families, including Fidelity and T. Rowe Price. On the mutual fund screener page, there is a tile for target-date funds. During our research, we clicked on this tile and received a list of 202 target-date funds.
J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing charges $75 when all assets in an IRA are distributed or transferred out and the account is terminated.
Margin Borrowing
J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing offers margin accounts. Its margin rates are tiered:
|
Debit Balance
|
J.P. Morgan Margin Rates
|
|
$0.01 - $4,999
|
11.5%
|
|
$5,000 - $9,999
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11.5%
|
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$10,000 - $24,999
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11.5%
|
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$25,000 - $49,999
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11.25%
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$50,000 - $99,999
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10.75%
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$100,000 - $499,999
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10.5%
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$500,000 - $999,999
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9.75%
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$1,000,001 - $3,000,000
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9.25%
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Banking Tools
Another weak point for J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing is, quite surprisingly, in the area of cash management. Although the financial conglomerate is well known for its banking products, a J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing account does not come with checkwriting or a debit card. This puts it at a disadvantage compared with brokerage firms that provide these features. Uninvested brokerage cash is placed in an interest-bearing bank deposit sweep account.
The J.P. Morgan Investing website, which is the same site that Chase Bank customers use, has an ACH transfer tool. It can also establish recurring transfers, one of the highlights in this category.
Thanks to the relationship between Chase Bank and J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing, a checking or savings account with the banking arm can easily be viewed through the same website and login. This makes transfers between eligible Chase bank accounts and investment accounts convenient. The downside is that Chase deposit accounts may have monthly fees unless the customer meets the applicable waiver requirements.
Website
Speaking of the website, we found it easy to use, although its trading tools remain less advanced than those available from brokers that focus on active traders.
The Accounts tab is a good place to start if you have multiple accounts with the company. Deposit accounts, credit cards, and brokerage accounts can be listed here. Customers can review information such as account balances, recent activity, investment values, and accumulated credit-card rewards.
The Investments tab is where the brokerage activity takes place. Clicking on the tab produces a drop-down window with several choices. Under the Trade section, there are separate order tickets for different investment products.
The order ticket for equities offers four order types: market, limit, stop, and stop-limit. Limit orders have five duration choices, including on-the-open and on-the-close orders.
Charts on the J.P. Morgan Investing site are pretty simple. On a security’s profile, a chart has only one format—a line—and no tools at all. Thirty years of price history can be displayed, though.
On a chart next to the timeframe choices, there is an expand icon. Clicking on this generates a new page with several widgets. These include technical indicators—about 50—drawing tools—about 10—and exactly eight plot styles. Dot is the most unusual.
The website has watchlists and market alerts for stocks and ETFs. Alerts can track changes in price, volume, and other market data.
Mobile App
As with the website, J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing uses the same mobile app that Chase Bank customers use. This creates a great convenience because multiple accounts can be accessed with a single login. Biometric login is available on compatible devices.
After logging into the app, there are two sections: one for business accounts and the other for personal accounts. Business accounts, if any, will be found on the business side, while personal accounts will be on the personal side. Because J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing accounts are personal accounts, that’s where we need to go.
On the personal side, there are many useful tools. Zelle transfers are available from eligible bank accounts. There is also a mobile check-deposit tool, which is restricted to eligible Chase bank accounts.
Turning to the actual investment tools, the order form is similar to the one that appears on the website, with the same duration choices and order types. Asset profiles have much of the same information as the website profiles, with similar formats and graphics.
A chart cannot be displayed horizontally, which we consider a major drawback. Nevertheless, charting tools can still be used on a mobile graph.
The watchlist from the website will also be found on the mobile app and is synchronized between the two platforms. It’s possible to edit the watchlist on the mobile app and change its view.
Other Software
J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing does not have a downloadable desktop platform, a smartwatch app, or a separate advanced browser-based trading platform. Trading is conducted through Chase.com and the Chase Mobile® app.
Options Trading
Call and put contracts can fairly easily be traded on either the website or the mobile app. We do emphasize calls and puts. Multi-leg option strategies are not supported, and J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing permits only single-leg orders.
J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing also does not have many advanced derivatives tools. During our investigation, we did not find profit-and-loss diagrams, an options screener, a volatility calculator, Greek values, or other professional-level options widgets.
To trade a call or put contract on the website, click on the Investments tab in the top menu and then select Options under the Trade section. This will pull up the options trade ticket. Enter the ticker symbol and fill in the parameters, such as buy to open or sell to open, depending on which side of the trade you want to take.
On the website, it’s also possible to pull up option chains on a security’s profile. Click on the Options Chain link, which appears in the upper-right portion of the screen. Clicking on a bid, ask, or midpoint price will produce a drop-down menu for order entry or exit.
On the mobile app, there is no Investments tab, so the second method just described is used to trade contracts. Tap instead of clicking. The format is similar.
Chase Brokerage Commissions and Fees
J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing charges $0 for online trades of U.S.-listed stocks, ETFs, options, and mutual funds. Options trades
cost $0.65 per contract. Regulatory fees, fund expenses, and other charges may apply.
J.P. Morgan charges nothing for online or broker-assisted secondary-market trades in U.S. Treasury bills, notes, and bonds. Online secondary-market trades in corporate bonds, municipal bonds, government agency bonds, and brokered CDs cost $10 per trade, plus $1 for each bond over 10 bonds, with a $250 maximum. New-issue brokered CDs have no commission because the selling concession is included in the price.
J.P. Morgan charges $75 when all assets are transferred out of a brokerage account or when all assets are distributed or transferred out of a retirement account and the account is terminated. There are no annual maintenance fees for Self-Directed Investing accounts.
Customer Support
Chase brokerage clients can reach a customer-service associate by phone Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The phone number is (800) 392-5749.
Chase branches primarily provide advisor-led investment services, but they can also help with certain Self-Directed Investing matters. For example, customers who do not already share a joint Chase or J.P. Morgan account must visit a Chase branch for assistance opening a joint Self-Directed Investing account. Account-specific trading and service questions can be directed to the Self-Directed Investing service center.
On the J.P. Morgan Investing website, there is an internal messaging tool, which provides a way to contact the broker at any time. The mobile app has the same tool. There is no live-chat feature, however, on either platform.
Mutual and Exchange-Traded Funds
Both the website and the mobile app have screeners for ETFs and mutual funds. The search criteria are the same. Examples include:
- Morningstar style boxes and ratings
- Fees and management
- Return history
- 30-day SEC yield
- Fund family
- Socially responsible funds
Scrolling through the results is easy on either platform. Results can be sorted by the original criteria chosen and by several other preinstalled choices. These include net expense ratio and fund category.
Profiles for funds have a decent amount of information. Mutual fund profiles have graphs that can be toggled between NAV history and the growth of $10,000.
Morningstar style boxes and ratings are both shown. There are no other ratings, however, from groups such as Lipper. We also found no research reports.
Return histories, both unadjusted and load-adjusted, are shown in bar-chart format. Other details, such as expense ratio and dividend yield, are also displayed.
Portfolio composition is broken down into a pie chart with details on geography and the top 10 holdings.
During our review, the J.P. Morgan screener displayed 3,043 mutual funds. Online mutual fund trades have a $0 transaction fee, but individual funds may impose operating expenses, sales charges, contingent deferred sales charges, or short-term redemption fees.
Research and Education
Although security profiles don’t have as much information as we would like to see, J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing places a noticeable emphasis on investment education. Both the website and mobile app have many articles and market-news items on a variety of topics. These materials can be found on the website under the Research section of the Investments tab. On the mobile app, there is a Research tab near the Portfolio tab.
Articles we found during our investigation include:
- What can investors do about rising inflation?
- The Fed has spoken—but what did investors hear?
- A recession in the near term is possible, but not probable. Here’s why.
- How to think about market volatility
- Is it better for married couples to file taxes jointly or separately?
There are also videos, with transcripts, on a variety of topics. These include subjects such as retirement and how to avoid financial fraud. There are also videos covering general investing education, such as:
- How to diversify
- What are IRAs and 401(k)s?
- What’s the stock market?
J.P. Morgan Investing sends out several email newsletters. It’s easy to sign up on the enrollment page.
Miscellaneous Services
Fractional Shares: Eligible S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 stocks and ETFs can be purchased in fractional shares with an investment of at least $5.
DRIP Availability: Dividend reinvestment is available free of charge.
Initial Public Offerings: IPOs are not available through J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing.
Extended-Hours Trading: Only regular market hours are available for trade execution. Orders can be entered outside market hours, but only limit orders are accepted during those times.
Periodic Mutual Fund Investing: Recurring purchases of eligible mutual fund shares can be set up automatically.
Our Recommendations
Long-Term Investors and Retirement Savers: J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing has a decent selection of
target-date mutual funds. But with only two online self-directed IRA types, it may fall short for customers who need specialized retirement accounts. We would go with
Charles Schwab, which offers
everything Chase has and much more.
Beginning Investors: There are several other options that we think
would be better, including
Webull.
Small Accounts: J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing is attractive because of its lack of minimum-balance and annual maintenance requirements.
Mutual Funds: With roughly 3,000 mutual funds, Chase brokerage underperforms
Firstrade, which advertises more than
11,000 funds. However, transaction fees may apply to certain mutual funds at Firstrade.
Active ETF and Stock Trading: Without a full-featured advanced trading platform, J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing doesn’t
quite seem up to the task. We like Charles Schwab
much better because it offers the thinkorswim desktop, web, and mobile platforms as well as fractional-share trading.
Chase Brokerage Review Recap
J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing has done a decent job of offering low-cost brokerage accounts. Nevertheless, we
expect much more from such a large financial conglomerate, which underperforms smaller companies by a wide margin in several areas.
Updated on 6/18/2026.
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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