This post is part of our series on IRA & Brokerage bonuses. Every Tuesday we share another bonus with you.
The Offer
optionsXpress (part of The Charles Schwab Corporation) is offering two deposit bonuses:
- $100 cash for customers who open a new optionsXpress individual or joint brokerage account, deposit $500 or more, and execute 3 trades within the qualifying period.
- $150 Amazon Gift Card for customers who open a new optionsXpress individual or joint brokerage account, deposit $1,000 or more, and execute 10 trades within the qualifying period.
Standard stock trades at optionsXpress are $8.95 per trade, which is on the higher end of the fee spectrum when compared with other brokers we have covered, albeit still lower than TD Ameritrade or E*TRADE (at the standard, non active trader rate).
$100 Cash Bonus
To receive the $100 offer, you must do the following:
- Open a new optionsXpress individual or joint brokerage account online at https://www.optionsxpress.com/new_account.asp?intcmp=lp100offer111209&promo=207.
- Fund the account with at least $500 in cash or securities transferred from an external brokerage by December 31, 2015.
- Execute 3 trades within 12 months of account opening.
Rules:
- Offer expires 12/31/2015.
- Offer valid for US residents only.
- Qualifying funds must come from a financial institution other than optionsXpress.
- The $100 bonus would be deposited into your new optionsXpress account within one month after meeting the offer terms.
- You must maintain the minimum qualifying funds in the account (minus trading losses) for 6 months from the account opening date to avoid paying back the bonus amount.
- The following accounts are not eligible for this offer: IRAs, other tax-exempt, linked, or shared accounts.
- Offer is non-transferable.
- Offer is not valid for internal transfers.
- Offer is not valid for current optionsXpress accounts or in combination with any other optionsXpress offers.
- You will be responsible for any taxes related to this bonus.
- Limit one per person.
- As always, online trading has inherent risk.
$150 Amazon Gift Card
To receive the $150 Amazon Gift Card offer, you must do the following:
- Open a new optionsXpress individual or joint brokerage account by December 31, 2015 either online or by calling 888-677-7001 and mentioning this offer.
- Fund the account with at least $1,000 in cash or securities transferred from an external brokerage and execute at least 10 trades within 90 days of account opening.
Rules:
- Offer expires 12/31/2015.
- Qualifying funds must come from a financial institution other than optionsXpress or its affiliates.
- Qualifying trades include stock, option, futures, mutual funds, and bond trades.
- Trades must be executed from via optionsXpress.com, XtendTM or OX Mobile.
- You will receive the $150 Amazon.com Gift Card within thirty meeting the offer requirements.
- Current customers are not eligible. Offer is only valid only for new individual or joint brokerage account and does not apply to IRA, trust, business, minor, or international accounts.
- Limit one per customer
- Offer valid for U.S. residents only
- Offer not transferable, for sale, or valid in combination with other optionsXpress offers.
- Employees or individuals associated with optionsXpress or its affiliates are not eligible.
- You are responsible for any taxes resulting from this bonus.
The Verdict
The trade requirement of these bonuses means there is still one more hurdle to cross to receive the bonus, unlike other more straightforward deposit bonuses we have discussed. However, there are still clear pros to consider.
optionsXpress is the only broker we have covered to date who is offering a $100 bonus with such a low qualifying deposit, at a value of 20% of the qualifying deposit. One would have to deposit an amount far greater at another broker for an equivalent bonus. A casual investor can partake in the $100 bonus with a deposit of as little as $500 and as few as three trades carried out over a period of as many as 12 months. This leaves ample time to qualify.
As an average investor I would be less inclined to partake in the $150 Amazon Gift Card offer. For double the deposit, one would only receive a bonus of 1.5x more, and in the potentially less versatile form of a gift card, even though Amazon GCs are useful. It would also take a fairly active trader to complete the ten minimum trades within 90 days. If I were to choose one of these two offers, it would be the $100 bonus. You can similarly consider your own investor profile if deciding between these offers.
If investing for the long-term, note that the standard optionsXpress trade fees are also significantly higher than TradeKing’s offer.
That optionsXpress is now part of the Charles Schwab Corporation can help lend it credence for customers wary of lesser known brokers. This may also make existing Charles Schwab customers more inclined to invest with optionsXpress. *However, per CSR confirmation, note that existing Schwab customers are not eligible for these new customer bonuses.
optionsXpress received 4 out of 5 stars in Barron’s 18th (2013) annual ratings of Online Brokers.
Do you have experience with optionsXpress? Let us know in the comments below!
Do the 3 Trades have to be stock purchases with the $8.95 fee, or can you buy three no-load mutual fund purchases and get the bonus?
Is there a hard pull like Charles Schwab does?
Hey XP1 – no worries, CSR rep confirmed that they do NOT do a hard credit check.
Manasa, is there any indication that the bonus would not apply to existing Schwab customers? I wonder if it’s worth to open the account and then be told I wouldn’t qualify…
Hey JB – thanks for your question. Unfortunately, the CSR rep confirmed that existing Schwab customers are NOT eligible for these new customer bonuses.
I added this as fyi to the end of the article for other folks who use Schwab already.