Truist Trade Review
Key highlights:
• Truist Financial provides investment accounts alongside its banking services.
• Through Truist Trade, the firm offers self-directed brokerage accounts.
• Truist Trade allows commission-free trading in certain accounts.
Overview of Truist Trade
If you’re already using Truist for banking, you should explore their self-directed investing program. Here are the key details:
Investing and Trading
Truist Trade is a platform provided to Truist clients for self-directed investing, aimed at minimizing costs. With a Truist Trade account, you can trade stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds, and bonds. However, no other asset classes are available at this time. For a broader selection of investments, Truist offers full-service brokerage accounts through other divisions.
Truist Trade does not provide any financial planning or investment advice. These services are available through other departments within Truist Financial Corporation.
Truist Trade Fees
Opening a Truist Trade account requires a deposit of $1 or more, with no ongoing minimum balance required.
Equity trades of up to 1,000 shares come with no commission. However, orders exceeding this limit incur a $0.03 per share commission. If you use a live broker to complete a trade over the phone, you will be charged an additional $25.
Options trades are not commission-free. They follow a tiered commission schedule:
| Trade Amount | Fee |
|---|
| $0 - $2,999.99 | $38.00 + 0.90% of principal |
| $3,000 - $9,999.99 | $41.00 + 0.80% of principal |
| $10,000 and above | $51.00 + 0.70% of principal |
Bond trades include markups or markdowns in their prices. Mutual fund trades may incur transaction fees up to $50 per trade.
Though Truist Trade is generally an affordable brokerage, it does charge an annual fee of $60 for account maintenance. This fee can be avoided if you maintain $250,000 in household assets or if you use the Wealthscape Investor or Investment Portfolio platform in the previous calendar year.
Margin Trading
Truist Trade accounts can be set up as either margin or cash accounts. However, the interest rates for margin loans are not publicly available, and customer support does not have this information either.
Software
Truist Trade customers can manage their accounts (including Truist Bank deposit accounts and other securities accounts) using the mobile app or the website. The app works on both iOS and Android devices and includes features like mobile check deposit, along with other tools for account management.
Additional Features
Extended Hours: Truist Trade does not offer extended hours trading.
Fractional-share Trading: Only whole shares can be traded in a Truist Trade account.
Initial Public Offerings: Truist Trade does not provide access to IPOs.
IRA Service: You can open Roth and Traditional IRAs through Truist Trade.
Dividend Reinvestment Plan: DRIP is available for stocks and funds in Truist Trade accounts.
Fully-Paid Stock Lending Program: This service is available only in full-service securities accounts at Truist.
Recommendations
Retirement Planning & Long-Term Investing: Truist Trade isn’t ideal for long-term investing due to the lack of annuities or financial planners. A full-service account with Truist Investment Services may be a better fit for retirement planning.
Active Stock Trading: Due to its basic software, we recommend Charles Schwab for more advanced stock trading.
Small Accounts: The $60 annual fee makes Truist Trade less ideal for small investors. Instead, Robinhood may be a better choice.
Beginners: For beginners, Truist Invest’s robo-advisor service or a full-service account at Truist Investment Services would be more suitable than a self-directed account.
Mutual Funds: Truist offers access to mutual funds via self-directed or full-service accounts, which is great for investors looking for a fund-focused strategy.
Truist Trade Review Judgment
While Truist Trade offers a solid self-directed brokerage service, some of its fees are not in line with industry standards. As a discount brokerage, it could offer more value, but it still lags behind other firms in certain areas.
Updated on 2/26/2026.
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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