Review of Wells Fargo’s free trade account application
I recently applied for Wells Fargo’s Portfolio Management Account (PMA) account in order to get in on their free trade program. The following is my application experience.
- 2/20. Applied online in the morning. Funded checking account with $500 from the Fidelity 529 credit card (this will be coded as a purchase and is eligible for your credit card’s rebate program) and $25k in cash from a checking account. Received acknowledgement email which asked me to call in to confirm additional information. I called in and was answered by a very friendly CSR who went ahead and processed my application. She left me her direct extension so that I can call in if I have questions. A nice touch. In the evening, I received an email that my PMA checking is opened.
- 2/22. Received a phone call from their brokerage department requesting for a copy of a voided check of the checking account that I am using to fund the account.
- 2/23. Faxed in a copy of requested voided check. Received PMA disclosure package in the mail.
- 2/24. Mailed back the checking account signature card.
- 2/26. Received checks for the PMA checking. This is fast! Also received the pin to sign up for online access. Signed up for online access. Added online access for the brokerage account using the “Add Accounts” feature. Did a trial entry for a trade and the commission shows $0.00. Looks like I am all set for free trading. Time from application to free trading is 6 calendar days.
- 2/27. Money to fund the brokerage account was debited from my checking account. I faxed in forms and voided checks to link up the brokerage account to the PMA checking and my external bank accounts.
- 2/28. ACH links to PMA checking and external bank accounts are activated. Submitted funds transfer using ACH pull from PMA checking to brokerage account. Received brokerage welcome package in the mail.
I will post information of the ACH and trading executions when I have some activity in the account in the near future. Or you can search for the Wells Fargo / PMA related posts HERE.
Stumble it!
February 28th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Thanks for the detailed list. If I rollover my IRA($8000), and open a CD for $7000 and put $10000 in brokerage account for stock purchases (total $25000), am I still qualified for free trade?
Whats the order in which I should open a account? Rollover IRA first or open PMA account first
or open wells trade account? How should I link those accounts to PMA? Thanks.
February 28th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
sara,
For your case, I think you will have 4 accounts:
1. Rollover IRA
2. CD savings
3. Checking (compulsory requirement for the PMA)
4. Taxable brokerage
As soon as you open the PMA, you are eligible for free trades. In fact, you will get 100 free trades in the rollover IRA and another 100 in the taxable brokerage.
The $25k is needed only to waive fees with the above accounts. If you do not have $25k, you still get free trades, but you will have to pay the $25 monthly fee for the PMA account.
According to the account disclosures, the fee for the PMA is charged if at the end of the month when the statement is printed, there is less than $25k in total.
I am not sure which sequence is the best for you since it might take some time for a rollover IRA to process and you could potentially be charged the $25 fee if the IRA rollover did not come in on time. However, I believe you should be able to get the fee waived for the first month if you call them and explain any delay in the IRA rollover.
For my case, the accounts are linked automatically. I didn’t do anything special.
Don’t forget to click from the $25 gift certificate link when applying for the PMA!
February 28th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Indexfundfan, Everything sounds GOOD for Wells Fargo account. I think that is what I’m looking for. If I don’t tranfer $25,000 to them and just open an account (like $2,000) can I get free trades if I pay the $25 monthly fee? Is that what your’e talking about? Thanks,Vacman
February 28th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Vacman,
As far as I know, your understanding is correct. You can read the details on the free-trade offer from
Free trade offer
In the fine print number 1, it states:
Discounted flat rate commissions as follows: PMA Package – No charge for the first 100 trades per year regardless of PMA balances, $5.95 thereafter. Free trades can be applied to commissions for online and automated trading of stocks (excluding Penny Stocks) and exchange traded-funds or to transaction fees on applicable no-load funds. Discounts and fee waivers based on having a Wells Fargo Investments WellsTrade account linked to your PMA account.
What it is saying is that you can get free trades with PMA. But if you do not have $25k, then you need to pay a monthly fee ($25 in this case).
March 1st, 2007 at 6:18 pm
Hi Indexfundfan,
Have you been able to sell tax lots? From another website, I’ve heard that you can specify tax lots by calling an agent after you sell. But I’ve called Wells Fargo regarding this and one CSR says that it will cost $25 to trade tax lots with a broker, and another CSR says tax lot trading is not available.
Thanks!
March 1st, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Hi Arthur,
I haven’t made any trades yet. But, I was exploring the Wells Fargo website today and noticed that you can sign up for their Portfolio Tracker for free. It appears that under this system, the default is HIFO instead of FIFO. I need some time to find out more and hopefully can write a post about it over the weekend.
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:36 am
not that it really matters with the free trades, but does wells fargo automatically reinvest the dividends for etf’s.
March 3rd, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Hi blackhawkzone, I don’t have the definitive answer to your question. But I think it does not support dividends reinvestments for ETFs.
May 5th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
I have already opened rollover IRA account,waiting for rollover complete process. Should I open WellsTrade taxable brokerage account first or PMA checking first to get free trades? How do I link IRA and taxable account to PMA to free trading in both?
May 5th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
Sara,
To get the free trades, you need the PMA. If you want the free trades, I suggest to open the PMA. My linking was automatic, but to be very certain, I believe you can open the PMA on the phone and specifically tell the CSR that the two should be linked together.
August 4th, 2008 at 9:41 am
[...] last year, I applied for the Wells Fargo PMA account package so that I can gain access to their free trade program. However, I did not regularly use the [...]
June 5th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
I tried to set up a WellsTrade Account to roll over my 401K into an IRA. After two weeks of agony and tears I still do not have it set up. I am really disappointed because a really wanted to be able to take advantage of WellsTrade’s free ETF trades. But trying to sign up has been so painful i will gladly pay handsomely to vanguard or another outfit to avoid any further pain from Wells Fargo.
Two weeks ago I spent about 3 hours online trying to navigate Wells Fargo’s impossibly confusing website and after reading dozens of documents and webpages finally completed application for the WellsTrade account and PMA linked Checking & Savings accounts.
But for Wellstrade that is not enough – had to wait for them to send me a bunch more documents in the mail – which I finally received yesterday- another 2 hours of reading & document signing.
Finally having my account number and password to go online – I can see checking and savings – but no Wellstrade account! After calling Wells Fargo they were able to get my brokerage account on screen…
but it just says “brokerage” – no indication if it is correctly the “wellstrade IRA” type of account I was trying to sign up for. The brokerage screen did have a link to ‘retirement planning” so followed that – then it asks me to sign on (which is strange since I was signed on already)- but my logon (which just worked an hour ago) no longer works! The logon screen gave me a number to call with difficulties logging on so I called that number…
After speaking with the Wells Fargo rep for a few minutes we determined that he was in the wrong department to help me with a wellstrade IRA, so transferred me to another department….
After speaking with another Wells Fargo rep for a few minutes she indicated that she had nothing to do with wellstrade IRA and transferred be to another number…..
That number led me to a computerized set of options – none of which had anything to do with my problem – and no option to actually speak with a real person…..
No now I am done. i can’t take it anymore. I will now attempt to close the brokerage, savings and checking account I just opened and hope closing the accounts is not as painful as trying to set them up in the first place!
April 2nd, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Absolutely awful to set up/transfer/perform any kind of action. Wells Fargo requires a form and repeated follow-up phone calls to do anything. When they say they are the ‘oldest bank’ they aren’t kidding. Stick with a modern brokerage, like Schwab.