This is actually one of the hardest parts of this Zacks Trade review to analyse because compared to some sites which make their main priority ease of use, they do lag a little bit behind. Really though, that’s not their fault. The fact is that when you’re talking about a trading platform that is as robust and varied as Zacks Trade, all those options and all those intricacies do inevitably, in some areas, come at the price of simplicity. If you’d prefer a simpler approach, there are a number of platforms aimed squarely at the younger or newcomer trader. If this is you then we’d suggest a look at our
SoFi Invest review, or
Stash review
to check out alternatives.
However, if you ask whether Zacks Trade USA provides usability considering the complexities of some parts of its platform, then the answer is an emphatic yes. It may not be the prettiest of sites – it may not have a mascot and it may not be built for beginners – but for a serious trading platform with plenty of scope, it’s hard to imagine them doing much more. That’s especially true considering it’s really three different platforms we’re talking about here (more on that in a moment).
Finally, we found the terms and conditions clear. Notably, we experienced no technical hiccups, even after many hours of hands on time during our Zacks Trade review. An Impressive feat considering the sheer weight of options available.
Zacks Trade Open Account Options
In order to understand this part of our Zacks Trade USA review, we must first understand how its different platforms are broken down, because they really are three separate products.
First off, we have the Client Portal. This is available to all Zacks Trade customers and is great for simple trades. It allows for both placement and management as well as providing easy access to your important balances and documents, alongside various settings. While we stand by the fact that Zacks Trade isn’t ideal for someone brand new to trading, this option does show us that you don’t need to be an expert to get something out of the platform.
Next up, there’s the browser based platform Zacks Trader, which manages to be a mid-point between this and the next option we’ll be looking at. This is ideal if you want to make use of a lot of features but don’t need the greatest amount of depth.
Finally, there’s Zacks Trade Pro, which is the granddaddy of this platform, offering the absolute most when it comes to depth, tools and functions. This includes a customisable interface to not only provide the best trading platform experience, but the best trading platform experience for you.
Importantly, the way to get the most out of this software is through download, distinguishing it from the previous example. This is the pinnacle of their products for high volume active traders thanks to its great technical and analysis tools.
Drilling down further, our Zacks Trade review revealed that the the variety of Zacks Trade open account options here goes as far as any we could imagine in terms of providing a platform for the widest amount of people, with over 90 markets across the globe available. The only real limitation is that the lowest level is still higher than some of the competition.
Zacks Trade Open Account Process
First things first, the Zacks Trade open account help section could make it easier to understand how this process works. The information on the Zacks Trade open account steps is not all in one place and that can make people in the early stages of signing up feel rather uncomfortable. We understand that a lot of this site is, by its nature, complicated. However, areas like this should not be.
With that said, the Zacks Trade open account process itself doesn’t seem too difficult. You hit the ‘Sign up’ button, input some basic information and are then contacted by the expert support team about the next steps. This will include providing identification such as a passport, driver’s license and national ID alongside a utility bill and bank statement from the past three months.
Importantly, we had a chat with customer service and they told us that the $2,500 minimum investment is no longer required and there is now no specified minimum, although that amount is still recommended. This is so important in making a Zacks Trade open account appeal to a lot more people, even if you’re at the more serious end of the market.
Casual traders looking for an alternative might consider the
Robinhood open account
as an option.
Naturally, the sheer amount that is available at Zacks Trade USA provides a rather unique challenge. They don’t just have to get one trading platform right: they essentially have to manage it across three platforms. The software here is clearly built with practicality first and foremost in mind. That means there’s not much in terms of unnecessary extras. Zacks Trade doesn’t have any mascot parading around random pages to provide personality, for instance.
However, this stripped back approach pays dividends in delivering exactly what they set out to do in the Client Portal, Zacks Trader and Zacks Trader Pro options. Every one feels like a logical and well thought through step up in options and the software matches it every step of the way, never breaking under the sweat of the growing number of tools as you upgrade.
Technically sound in our experience for this Zacks Trade review, we have found little with regards to customer feedback to suggest otherwise. Once again, we’re not saying that Zacks Trade – especially Zacks Trade Pro – is easy to use, but for something this ambitious, it’s about as easy as it can be without compromises.
Payment Options at Zacks Trade
While there are, of course, costs associated with trading in general – in fact, an extensive list of them from regional fees to requests to exercise appraisal rights is available to look at – access to a Zacks Trade open account and the platforms themselves are, at the time of our Zacks Trade review, absolutely free.
That means all the platforms too, meaning that Zacks Trade is offering access to all of this for nothing. The $2,500 mentioned previously is only a recommended amount. You can’t do much better than that. It’s full marks in this part of our Zacks Trade review. You might also like to take a peek at our
SogoTrade review,
which reports on a generous trading cash back offer.
Zacks Trade Customer Service
One of the key criticisms of Zacks Trade found during our Zacks Trade review – a point all the more significant considering how highly they are thought of – is that they can appear a little cold. This is perhaps no surprise considering their business approach to design, and the need for maximum webspace in their uncompromising vision for their platform. It leaves little room for warmth.
However, this isn’t reflected by their customer service team. We got in touch and explained that we wanted to clarify some pieces of information for this Zacks Trade review and found them to be very accommodating, helpful and quick to respond.
We think it’s a really underrated element of Zacks Trade that you have such expertise available to you at any level. In fact, you don’t even need to have a Zacks Trade open account in order to utilise their live chat. A lot of similar options require you to have already invested – sometimes a lot of money – in order to actually talk to someone.
Considering that a lot of people won’t feel comfortable doing so before they get their questions answered – which is understandable considering the risk involved – we really appreciate this being available for everyone. Not only that, but it’s not phoned in. We considered them to be exceptionally helpful and one of the best customer service teams we’ve come across.
They’re available via phone, email and live chat, although they’re not available on weekends. The phone line and live chat are available between 9am-6pm Eastern Time Monday to Friday, and are quite excellent. Plus, the live chat automatically sends you an email when it’s not available, making it a brilliantly user-friendly experience.
We feel that Zacks Trade could explain itself better in some areas, but the service could only be bettered by being available for longer hours.
Regulation & Deposit Protection at Zacks Trade
The first thing to note when talking about regulation and deposit protection in our Zacks Trade review is that they have a parent company called LBMZ securities, which is a member of both FINRA and SIPC, also known as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.
These institutions exist to protect investors and ensure that everything is done properly and according to regulation. If you are looking at Zacks Trade and wondering where their security credentials are, that is because they come through the parent company.
The SIPC provides insurance, meaning that you are protected in the event of a brokerage failure up to half a million. Obviously, this does not protect you if you lose money just through trading. They also utilise two factor authentication to keep your Zacks Trade open account secure and, of course, there’s also the registration process which includes identification checks, as we have already mentioned.
Zacks Trade Review - Final Conclusions
We’ve discussed at length in this Zacks Trade review that the key target demographic for Zacks Trade USA is advanced traders, and that is definitely the case. But before we go into how well they work for that demographic, we do also want to point out that it’s very clear that this is not a platform that’s intentionally being difficult.
In fact, we would say that the efforts that are made in terms of customer service and getting rid of minimum amounts – alongside things like ETFs and the easier platforms offered by Zacks Trade – do make it clear that their intention is to create as broad appeal for their product as possible, even if there are areas where we could still see improvements in that regard.
When we get to what they offer at even an intermediate level though, they have very few peers. They are once again not perfect – there’s no futures, for instance, so we can’t say they are totally comprehensive – but what is offered here in terms of features and customisation is simply astonishing. And just as important is that, although this is by its nature complex, the effort that has been made to curb the difficulty is exceptional.
Zacks Trade USA may seem intimidating to some, but when you’re this ambitious, it’s hard not to appear that way. Overall though, our Zacks Trade review notes that beneath that surface, is a team which has gone above and beyond in making their platform as accessible as it can be without compromise. If you’re looking for more comparisons, visit our
ATC brokers review and
eToro review.
