Online brokerages are still competing for your business and waving money around to lure you in with broker incentives. But some aren't trying as hard as they used to.
You can still find lucrative promotions if you look hard enough, though. Morgan Stanley's E-Trade is one of the most tempting. It's offering a $6,000 bonus to anyone who opens a new account with $2 million or more.
And it's still rewarding customers who bring smaller amounts. Open an E-Trade account with $500,000 up to $999,999 and E-Trade will give you $1,000. That's actually better than what it was offering at this time last year, when E-Trade only offered $600 for an account opened of that size.
"Many online brokers, including bank-based, discount big brokers, and fintech firms, are offering a variety of incentives such as cash bonuses, fractional share awards and even matching IRA contributions," said Kapil Vora, senior director of wealth intelligence for JD Power.
E-Trade is one of seven online brokers that qualified for analysis in our survey for IBD's 2025 list of Best Online Brokers. Leaders on this year's list are Fidelity Investments, frequent winner Merrill Edge (owned by Bank of America) and mobile-trading favorite Robinhood.
Charles Schwab, a 12-year winner among our Best Online Brokers, also was included in the survey, as were Interactive Brokers and Vanguard.
IBD's annual list of the best online brokers is derived from the results of an extensive survey of thousands of brokerage customers.
Options For Promotions And Broker Incentives
E-Trade is getting some competition for promotions.
Schwab, for instance, is paying $1,000 to investors who open accounts with $500,000 or more. That's the same amount that the brokerage offered last year.
But you can score a cash bonus, too, even if you bring less money to the table. Schwab will pay you $500 for opening an account valued at $100,000 to $499,999 and $300 for an account with a beginning balance of $50,000 to $99,999.
"Generally the higher the deposit, the higher the incentive," Vora said.
Read Our Full Special Report On The Best Online Brokers For 2025
Not to be left behind, Merrill Edge Self-Directed will hand you $600 for opening an account with $200,000 or more. Additionally, Merrill Edge balances can be added to other assets at Bank of America as part of its Preferred Rewards program. Perks include breaks on account fees or discount rates on home equity lines of credit.
Other brokers treat bonuses as referrals. Interactive Brokers offers a "Refer a Friend" program. "This program allows eligible and current Interactive Brokers clients to refer friends and earn $200 for each referral while giving their friend the opportunity to earn up to $1,000 of (Interactive Brokers) stock," said a response from the company. Schwab has a referral program, too.
And Robinhood is trying to lure retirement assets. The online broker will match 1% of IRA contributions if you make the maximum contribution for 2024. If you transfer an IRA or old 401(k), Robinhood will match 2%.
Not All Online Brokers Pay To Play
But in a twist, some major online brokerages aren't currently offering any kind of broker incentives for opening an account. Perhaps it's a signal the industry has consolidated enough that some brokers don't need to fight so hard to win customers. Fidelity, for instance, currently offers no promotions for opening accounts. "At this time, no, there are no account opening offers available," says Fidelity spokesperson Jasmine Khayami.
Same goes with Ally Invest. "We do not have an Ally Invest promo available for noncustomers," said spokeswoman Stefanie Moody. Vanguard, known for its rock-bottom fees, isn't paying any incentives as usual.
Free money sounds good. But mind the catches, Vora says. Some promotions require deposits to be in place for up to 90 days before the incentive is paid. Make sure you don't need the money before then.
"Read the fine print to understand the qualifying deposit amount required to receive an incentive," Vora said. "Based on trends observed in 2024, we do not anticipate these offers diminishing anytime soon."
