improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . january 2013 this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . august 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message zecco type private founded july 4 2006 ; 10 years ago 2006 07 04 headquarters san francisco california u.s. key people michael raneri ceo michael feser president zecco trading industry financial services products stock brokerage website www.zecco.com alexa rank 382 129 april 2014 update 1 zecco.com zecco holdings inc is an online investing company that was merged with tradeking in 2012 to challenge online brokerages such as e trade scottrade td ameritrade fidelity investments and charles schwab with discounted rates . investors on zecco.com have access to zecco trading its stock option mutual fund and bond trading platform . 2 3 4 5 investors also have access to zecco forex which provides spot foreign exchange trading as well as spot gold and spot silver trading . 6 7 it also operates a financial community zeccoshare where members can share investing ideas and view others verified trades and performance taken directly from the brokerage . 8 9 contents 1 timeline of events 2 products 3 regulation 4 criticisms 5 competitors 6 see also 7 references timeline of events edit february 2006 company founded by jeroen veth . 10 july 4 2006 first offering a basic online financial community launched with 8 full time employees . 11 october 9 2006 online brokerage offering zecco trading launched january 2007 expanded staff . 12 february 2007 addition of ira account types and addition of 2 legged complex options strategies . 13 may 2007 zeccoshare community beta launch november 2007 launch of 3 and 4 legged complex options strategies and an options analytics suite . 14 january 2008 hired michael feser as president of zecco trading . 15 april 2008 hired tradeking chief compliance officer francesco matteini as cco . may 2008 hired ex schwab exec michael raneri as cio . 16 july 2008 addition of analyst reports and online mutual fund trading . 17 july 2008 launch of online video education offering the zecco zirens . 18 september 2008 zecco trading and other brokers experienced downtime at the height of the financial crisis . 19 zecco trading offered unlimited free stock trading for all customers in october 2008 as a goodwill gesture . 20 march 2009 zecco trading increases the requirements to qualify for free stock trading to 25 000 in assets or 25 trades month 4.50 per trade otherwise . 21 march 2009 launch of bond trading and online chat for customer service . april 2009 launch of spot foreign exchange market trading through zecco forex . april 2009 company experiences technical glitch that temporarily gives some customers 6 12m in buying power . 22 july 2009 launch of spot gold and silver trading through the zecco forex . july 2009 over 160 000 opened brokerage accounts and 250 000 community members . january 2010 michael raneri takes over as ceo . former ceo jeroen veth joins board of directors . february 2011 zecco announce they no longer offer free stock trades while increasing their commissions to 4.95 per trade 6.95 per trade on penny stocks 0.65 per option contract . 23 may 15 2012 tradeking and zecco announced they have agreed to merge their businesses . 24 products edit zecco trading offers customers stock options mutual fund and bond trading real time positions and balances quotes research and analytics streaming data and tax reporting regulation edit both zecco trading and zecco forex are subsidiaries of zecco holdings inc. but the two are subject to separate regulatory bodies . zecco trading is a registered broker dealer member of the financial industry regulatory authority finra the primary regulatory body of the securities industry . zecco forex is a separate but affiliated company from zecco trading . zecco forex is subject to regulation by the national futures association . criticisms edit initial reviews of zecco were mixed . zecco trading went from concept to live online brokerage in a matter of 8 months launching with a relatively basic platform and weak customer service . over the years zecco trading claims to have improved both the product and service . the data seem to show progress . barron s ranked zecco with 3 stars 25 in 2009 compared to 2.5 stars in 2008 . 26 this ranked them in the same category as scottrade ahead of companies like banc of america securities and wellstrade but behind companies like optionsxpress and thinkorswim . zecco trading s customer service was sometimes criticized in the early days while zecco claims to have improved service 27 more recently . smart money magazine s broker survey seems to corroborate a turnaround in service quality zecco received one star in 2008 for customer service which improved to three stars in 2009 . 28 29 the low cost was seen as a trade off for a less polished interface and simpler features than competitors . zecco trading has also undergone criticisms for its accounting methods which are seen as inaccurately portraying overall account performance daily balances and trade executions . many users expressed frustration after some customers were accidentally given up to 13 million in buying power on april 1 2009 . 30 zecco trading explained this as a technical error and said only customers who egregiously abused the extra buying power were held responsible for their trades . 31 however some customers felt they should have been able to keep gains but not be held responsible for losses . as a reaction to website downtime at zecco trading and many other online brokerages in september 2008 zecco trading decided to cancel commissions on all stock trades for all customers during the entire month of october 2008 to compensate investors . 19 20 customers can only trade us markets at zecco trading . zecco currently supports the amex nyse nasdaq otcbb and the pink sheets . many account functions have fees associated with them including 50 to transfer stocks to another brokerage acat 30 per year for ira accounts and 235 575 to request stock certificates . 32 despite claiming that commission free trading would continue indefinitely 33 zecco began downgrading and restricting the free trades offer as the company grew and eventually it was eliminated altogether . beginning january 1 2008 zecco instituted a 2 500 minimum balance to qualify for the free trades and reduced the limit on free trades from 40 per month to 10 per month claiming that the majority of their customers traded less than 10 times per month anyway . 34 zecco also raised the price for additional trades from 3.50 to 4.50 per trade . the following year effective march 1 2009 zecco raised the minimum balance for free trades from 2 500 to 25 000 35 effectively eliminating free trading for many customers . finally on february 25 2011 zecco announced they would no longer offer free stock trades despite the origin of its name zero commission cost . zecco also raised their prices from 4.50 per trade to 4.95 per trade at that time . competitors edit competitors in the discount brokerage industry include e trade scottrade td ameritrade fidelity investments charles schwab firstrade sharebuilder and tradeking . see also edit list of foreign exchange companies brokerage firm stockbroker growth stock penny stock stock valuation technical analysis nasdaq references edit zecco.com site info . alexa internet . retrieved 2014 04 01 . system response and access times may vary due to market conditions system performance and other factors . options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors . please read characteristics and risks of standardized options . investors should consider the investment objectives risks and charges and expenses of a mutual fund or etf carefully before investing . the prospectus should be read carefully before investing . zecco pricing and products page zecco forex forex trading involves significant risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors . increasing leverage increases risk . spot gold and silver contracts are not subject to regulation under the u.s. commodity exchange act . before deciding to trade forex you should carefully consider your financial objectives level of experience and risk appetite . other important information . zeccoshare community investors share tips track records online usatoday.com zecco management team zecco financial backers zeccoshare stock & options trading community . zecco.com . retrieved 2012 07 23 . information and results for zecco.com enhances its leadership team . accessmylibrary promoting library advocacy . accessmylibrary . retrieved 2012 07 23 . zecco.com adds iras to free services internetnews . internetnews . 2007 02 09 . retrieved 2012 07 23 . zecco launches major upgrade to trading options analytics financial community platforms . business wire . november 26 2007 . zecco trading names former e trade executive michael feser as president . reuters . archived from the original on 14 november 2012 . retrieved 2012 07 23 . zecco trading names former schwab executive michael raneri as cio . reuters . archived from the original on 14 november 2012 . retrieved 2012 07 23 . investors observer . investors observer . retrieved 2012 07 23 . investors to heed the call of the zecco zirens . bloomberg news . august 25 2008 . a b beyers tim 2008 09 23 . fool blog sympathy for the retail trader amtd . fool.com . retrieved 2012 07 23 . a b zeccoshare stock & options trading community . zecco.com . retrieved 2012 07 23 . trade commission pricing details . zecco . archived from the original on 2009 09 04 . whitehouse kaja 2009 04 07 . online brokerage firm zecco trading cleans up april fool s day computer glitch . nypost.com . retrieved 2012 07 23 . zeccoshare discussions important zecco trading message . zecco.com . retrieved 2012 07 23 . tradeking and zecco are now one family may 15 2012 . how the 25 leading online brokers stack up pdf . s.wsj.net . retrieved 2013 10 25 . carey theresa w. 2008 03 17 . making it click annual ranking of the best online brokers barrons.com . online.barrons.com . retrieved 2012 07 23 . zeccoshare stock & options trading community . zecco.com . retrieved 2012 07 23 . j. alex tarquinio 2012 05 16 . smartmoney s annual broker survey 2012 . smartmoney.com . retrieved 2012 07 23 . byroya wolversonneil parmar 2009 05 19 . smartmoney s 2009 broker survey . smartmoney.com . retrieved 2012 07 23 . zecco accidentally increases some customers buying power by millions . the consumerist . april 5 2009 . archived from the original on april 5 2012 . zeccoshare stock & options trading community . zecco.com . retrieved 2012 07 23 . low cost stock and options commissions compare with other brokers zecco trading . zecco.com . retrieved 2012 07 23 . zecco.com to offer free stock trading internetnews . internetnews . 2006 10 02 . retrieved 2012 07 23 . zecco downsizes its free services . no more 40 free trades per month . democratic investments by the people for the people . deminvest.wordpress.com . retrieved 2012 07 23 . find more in investing 2009 03 01 . zecco brokerage raises minimum requirements for free trades . my money blog . retrieved 2012 07 23 . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title zecco.com & oldid 730982093 categories online brokeragesforeign exchange companieshidden categories wikipedia articles in need of updating from january 2013all wikipedia articles in need of updatingarticles with a promotional tone from