Firstrade Reviews 47

In I could give them a ZERO I would! Trying to close and account, not only did they charge the account $55 for partial transfer, now they want to charge $75 to close the account! Note: partial closure, actually should have been a full closure of the account.....the worst brokerage out there...run

Interview Process
I went through a recruiter screen followed by an interview. The process moved quickly and initial communication was timely.
The Concern
After being rejected, I was informed that the interviewer believed I was looking up answers on my computer during the interview. This did not happen. I found it troubling that a false accusation was relayed as fact without any opportunity for me to address it, and that it was cited as a contributing reason for the rejection.
Candidates deserve a fair evaluation process. If a concern arises during an interview, the professional approach is to raise it in the moment rather than citing unverified assumptions after the fact.
Advice to Candidates
Be aware that subjective impressions during the interview may be communicated as fact.
Advice to Firstrade
Ensure interviewers address concerns directly with candidates rather than making post-interview accusations that candidates have no ability to respond to.

I was initially drawn in by Firstrade’s free options trading and decided to open an account. Unfortunately, I’ve learned that you truly get what you pay for. Their website, trading platform, and customer service fall significantly short compared to competitors. Many limitations only become apparent when you attempt to execute trades, largely because their website provides minimal support documentation, FAQs, or detailed disclosures about restrictions.

1. **Only One Linked Bank Account**
Firstrade allows you to connect only one bank account at a time. If you want to transfer funds to a different bank, you must first delete the existing bank connection and then add the new one — a process that can take 2–3 business days. I’m not aware of any other major brokerage with this limitation.

2. **No Rolling of Spread Options**
Firstrade does not allow you to roll spread positions. You only discover this when you actually need to manage your trade.

3. **Undisclosed Contract Limits**
They limit the number of options contracts you can hold on a specific ticker. This restriction becomes apparent only when your order is rejected at the time of placement.

4. **$50,000 Daily ACH Withdrawal Limit**
ACH transfers out are capped at $50,000 per day. This restriction is more limiting than many competing brokerages.

5. **Questioning Your Own Transfers**
If you initiate ACH withdrawals on consecutive days, they may halt the transfer and email you asking why you are moving your own funds. That level of scrutiny over personal funds feels excessive.

6. **Account Transfer Restrictions with Near-Term Options**
Firstrade will not allow you to transfer your account to another brokerage if you have options expiring within two weeks. However, this rule is not clearly disclosed on their website. You only find out after your transfer request is rejected and you contact customer service. They do not proactively notify you or explain the issue.

7. **Bare-Bones Platform**
The website and trading platform are extremely basic compared to other brokerages. Advanced features common elsewhere are missing. Editing existing options orders can be cumbersome. For buy-and-hold investors, this may not be a major issue. But for active or high-frequency options traders, the platform can be frustrating to use.

In short, while the appeal of free options trading is strong, the limitations and lack of transparency make it difficult to recommend for active traders.

They scammed me out of $67,000 because the payment date was on a holiday so they sold my holdings leaving me with nothing.
#Firstrade #firstradesecurities #scam

I've been using Firstrade for stock and options trading for some time and I'm very satisfied. The mobile app is clean and intuitive, making it easy to trade without commission fees. Option chains are clearly laid out, and selecting specific contracts is quick and straightforward.

While the platform isn’t ideal for building complex multi-leg strategies, it works perfectly for simple options trading. The learning curve is minimal and execution is smooth.

Customer service has been very responsive and helpful. Deposits were available for trading within a few days, and my withdrawal was processed without delay - funds landed in my bank account the very next day. Reasonable fees were applied on the withdrawal.

Highly recommended for anyone looking for a reliable and cost-effective way to trade stocks and basic options strategies.

This has been a terrible scam, wasting both my time and money. I found that they don't allow withdrawals. My profile photo was used to secure the funds

DO NOT RECOMMEND!!
Firstrade as an online broker, does the basics you would expect of others. Downside is the sky high charges for every fund transfer you make out of the account. Crazy fees if you decide to leave them..
So essentially they get you in claiming that they charge no fees on transactions, but this is for buying and selling stocks. Otherwise they use their fees to ensure you are locked in with them forever, and also your money is!!

Apps Malfunctioned for Hours, affecting customer's trades.

Crooks, will not let withdrawals go through, they take money in but dont allow withdrawal. Have way more than enough settled funds available for withdrawal they reject it anyway.

They are significantly stalling my attempt to withdrawel my funds from their service. Do Not Use This Company.

Agree with previous posts. You can hardly withdraw your funds from there. They ask you many questions and many blockings when you tried to withdraw your funds. It takes forever and especially if you have different time zone. Think twice.

This is the worst place you can park your money. The company is a corrupt scam. They take your money with pleasure, but when you ask to withdraw money....OMG. It took me two weeks and a huge favor from my local bank, with which I have a 20 year relationship to get my money out of this hell-hole. Do not use this company. You will regret it.

This company is a total fraud!!! They sat on my $50k withdrawl request for almost two weeks now. They will make all kinds of ridiculous excuses like they needed to verify my identity so I had to send them my driver’s license, bank statements and eventually did a three way call with my bank to verify what???? It’s all a bunch of stall tactics. I guess at this point I’ll need to ask them to reverse the ACH, contact the SEC and local police in Flushing, NY because they essentially have stolen $50k from me and won’t return the funds despite repeated requests

My overall experience was medium. Several times they ignored my emails or answered answers that have nothing to do with what I wrote.
When I talked to them about Withdrawal I saw that they start asking for all kinds of illogical things and become unpleasant. So I realized I wasn't going to stay with them. In the end transfer was fine.
Most of their representatives are very professional and kind I must say, the problem in my opinion is in the "back office". They must improve their service there. They must immediately allow those who want to withdraw their money without asking questions and without asking for anything (it didn't happen to me, but I read too many negative comments on this subject).
I personally did not feel at ease that my money would be with them so I decided to move
Hope they improve in the future

My overall experience was medium. Several times they ignored my emails or answered answers that have nothing to do with what I wrote.
When I talked to them about Withdrawal I saw that they start asking for all kinds of illogical things and become unpleasant. So I realized I wasn't going to stay with them. In the end transfer was fine.
Most of their representatives are very professional and kind I must say, the problem in my opinion is in the "back office". They must improve their service there. They must immediately allow those who want to withdraw their money without asking questions and without asking for anything (it didn't happen to me, but I read too many negative comments on this subject).
I personally did not feel at ease that my money would be with them so I decided to move
Hope they improve in the future

Support is useless. Service is fine as long as you have no problems. When you have a problem basically you get a response along the lines of

Nothing we can do about it.
Thank you for choosing Firstrade as your online broker.

Well I'm moving my trades to another online broker.

They blocked my money more than 6 years now!!!! The worst company I ever seen. I sent all documents they asked a couple of times and still nothing. The best way to make trading impossible. As I'm NHS trust member no trust from this people. Luckily there is other platforms easy to verify your account. I using CMC market, IG and eToro.

This company does not pay out. After saving with them for over a year, and it was time for me to draw my investment out. That's when all the problem began. I lost over $68,000. They left me in the bad way, and broke. Stay away from this company if you can..

They are a small company run by a family, and none of the main people live in the United States. They have business in China, but they have no license and evade financial supervision. They urge Chinese customers to remit money to the United States, but they can’t get it out. This is a very risky fraudulent company,
Advise everyone not to be fooled.

Worst service in the industry. Can not get $ transferred out of IRA. 25 days and counting. On hold now. 4+ hours on hold for 10 days. Next step is NY Attorney General. Beware.