E*TRADE Friend Referral
E*TRADE has discontinued its refer-a-friend program.
If you’re looking for a brokerage referral offer for new customers,
Robinhood’s referral program is a good alternative.
Robinhood offers gift stock valued up to $200 for qualifying referrals.
Robinhood Referral
E*TRADE Promotion
(EXPIRED!) E*TRADE Friend Referral Bonus
At E*TRADE, the referral program carried a simple message to current customers:
refer family and friends to our service, and get rewarded for it.
The reward?
A $50 Amazon.com gift card for each qualifying referral. The total number of
qualifying referrals was capped at a maximum of 10 per year, or $500 worth of
Amazon gift cards.
How to Join in the E*TRADE Referral Program
To get started with the referral program, E*TRADE clients first had to log into
their account.
Once logged in, they had to click on What We Offer > Refer A Friend.
The client had then arrived at the homepage for the E*TRADE Referral
Program. After entering an appropriate email address in the space provided,
E*TRADE created a unique referral link to be shared with friends, family,
and contacts.
Friends and family had to sign up through this exact link for the referral to
qualify under the terms of the program; otherwise, no one received any
of the related rewards.
The referral link could be shared through a number of popular platforms, such
as:
- Twitter
- Meta (including Messenger)
- Email
The Rewards of the E*TRADE Referral Program
To encourage existing customers to introduce family, friends, and contacts
to the brokerage's services, E*TRADE offered rewards of $50 Amazon.com
gift cards.
An Amazon gift card was received by email every time a friend opened and
funded an E*TRADE brokerage account with a minimum deposit of $500. As
the referral link had a limit of 10 referrals maximum per calendar year, a total of
$500 worth of Amazon gift cards could be gained.
New customers can still benefit from E*TRADE's current brokerage promotion.
New customers are eligible to receive cash credit rewards if they open and fund an eligible
non-retirement brokerage account by 6/30/26 with promo code OFFER26. A deposit ranging from $1,000-$4,999 will result
in a cash credit reward of $50. The cash credit reward increases in
increments based on signup deposits, until it reaches its highest point at
$10,000 for an opening deposit of $5 million or more.
Limitations of the E*TRADE Referral Program
As was the case with most promotional offers or discount sales, the E*TRADE
Referral Program was limited in size and scope by numerous terms and
restrictions:
- Referred friends had to be located in the USA
- E*TRADE and Morgan Stanley employees were not eligible to take part in
the offer
- The offer was valid only for non-retirement individual (or joint) brokerage
accounts
Potential program participants may have been surprised to find out they could not take
advantage of the offer by opening individual retirement accounts (IRAs)
or any type of business accounts. E*TRADE Capital Management, Futures,
Bank, and Savings Bank accounts were also excluded from the
referral program.
Is the E*TRADE Referral Program Worthwhile?
Many people prefer to receive rewards in cash, rather than
gift cards, because cash is more flexible. For instance, cash can be invested in
stocks, businesses, and other productive assets; it can also be used to pay off
loans. Amazon gift cards do not have this same flexibility, as they cannot
be exchanged for cash.
Some people were disappointed with the lack of a straight cash reward
system, while others enjoyed the selection available to them on one of
the world's leading online marketplaces.
Regardless, E*TRADE's customer referral program provided existing clients
with a rewarding opportunity at no cost. Since there were no fees associated
with the program, those dreaded hidden charges did not pop up as an
unpleasant surprise.
Sharing is caring, as the old saying goes, and the same holds true when one
shares their passion for the capital markets with friends and relatives.
Helping them sign up with E*TRADE, which offers one of the leading online
trading platforms, was just another way of caring.
Updated on 5/11/2026.
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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