Are you looking to open a new brokerage account to manage your portfolio of investments but aren’t sure which one?
Many online investment platforms compete for business by offering new account promotions based on the assets you can transfer to their platform. While promotions shouldn’t be the only consideration, these promotion/bonus amounts are too hard to look past.
There are a range of bonuses listed below, whether you have an established portfolio and looking to transfer stocks, or starting new account – there are ways to add more money to your balance by taking advantage of these bonuses.
Continue reading to review the best brokerage account promotions for new accounts.
🏆 Our Top Picks:
- Tastytrade [Best Bonus] – Tastytrade is our Editor’s Pick as the best brokerage promotion because it offers up to $5,000 when you deposit a large amount – it’s the highest bonus amount as a ratio of the deposit.
- Moomoo [Best for Free Stocks] – Moomoo has a simple promotion that everyone should do it – open an account and you get up to 15 Free Stocks.
Table of Contents
- 💸 Tastytrade – up to $5,000
- J.P Morgan Self-Directed Investing – up to $700
- 💲Moomoo – up to 15 Free Stocks
- 💲Webull
- 💲Robinhood – free stock (valued $5 - $200)
- TradeStation – up to $3,500
- Acorns – $20
- Public – up to $10,000
- Tornado – up to $1,000
- E*TRADE – up to $6,000
- SoFi Invest- up to $10,000
- Citi Personal Wealth Management – up to $5,000
- Merrill Edge – up to $1,000
- Charles Schwab – Multiple Bonuses
- Frequently Asked Questions
| Brokerage | Bonus Promotion | Link |
|---|---|---|
 | 🏆 up to $5,000 | Learn more |
 | up to 40 fractional stocks from the Brokerage+ up to $3,000 from Cash Management | Learn more |
 | up to 15 Free Stocks | Learn more |
 | free stock (valued $5 - $200) | Learn more |
 | Up to $500 cash | Learn more |
 | up to $700 | Learn more |
💸 Tastytrade – up to $5,000
Tastytrade has a new account promotion – open and fund a new Tastytrade account and transfer in funds to get up to $5,000 in cash. This is a great offer if you are looking to open a Tastytrade account and an increase from their previous offer.
This is valid for new Tastytrade customers and existing Tastytrade customers as long as they have not yet funded an account.
The bonus is based on the amount transferred:
| Deposit Amount | Cash Bonus |
|---|---|
| $2,000 – $4,999 | $50 |
| $5,000 – $24,999 | $100 |
| $25,000 – $99,999 | $500 |
| $100,000 – $249,999 | $2,000 |
| $250,000 – $499,999 | $3,000 |
| $500,000 – $999,999 | $4,000 |
| $1,000,000+ | $5,000 |
The referral/promotion code for this offer is “MYNEWBONUS” and you must put it in the Referral Code Field when applying.
Here’s our full review of Tastytrade.
Learn more about Tastytrade
(Offer expires 12/31/24)
tastytrade, Inc. (“tastytrade”) has entered into a Marketing Agreement with WalletHacks.com (“Marketing Agent”) whereby tastytrade pays compensation to Marketing Agent to recommend tastytrade’s brokerage services. The existence of this Marketing Agreement should not be deemed as an endorsement or recommendation of Marketing Agent by tastytrade and/or any of its affiliated companies. Neither tastytrade nor any of its affiliated companies is responsible for the privacy practices of Marketing Agent or this website. tastytrade does not warrant the accuracy or content of the products or services offered by Marketing Agent or this website. Marketing Agent is independent and is not an affiliate of tastytrade.
tastytrade was previously known as tastyworks, Inc.
J.P Morgan Self-Directed Investing – up to $700
J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing has a bonus offer based on how much you deposit into a new account within 45 days. The account snapshot is determined on day 45 and then you just need to maintain those funds until 90 days from enrollment. The bonus is deposited 15 days after you qualify.
If you can meet the amounts, it’s a decent offer with a relatively low cap (compared to others). This works for a general investment account as well as a Traditional IRA and Roth IRA.
The tiers are:
| Deposit Amount | Bonus Amount |
|---|---|
| $5,000 – $24,999 | $50 |
| $25,000 to $99,999 | $150 |
| $100,000 to $249,999 | $325 |
| $250,000 or more | $700 |
The account also offers commission-free trades of stock, ETF, and option trades as well as a suite of tools you can use to make smarter investing decisions.
Here’s our full review of J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing.
Get your bonus from J.P. Morgan
(Offer expires 1/23/2025)
INVESTMENT AND INSURANCE PRODUCTS ARE: NOT A DEPOSIT – NOT FDIC INSURED – NO BANK GUARANTEE – MAY LOSE VALUE
💲Moomoo – up to 15 Free Stocks
Moomoo is a commission-free brokerage app just like Webull and Robinhood. Its parent company Moomoo Financial Inc. is a subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed FinTech FUTU and is regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and FINRA, which means your account is protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) with insurance up to $500,000.
Moomoo is offering you free shares of stock when you open and fund an account:
| Total Net Deposit | Total Stocks You’ll Get | Eligibility |
|---|---|---|
| $100 – $999.99 | 5 free stocks | New client |
| $1,000 or more | 10 additional free stocks | New client |
There are no trading requirements but you must keep the cash in there for 60 days.
Here’s our full review of Moomoo.
💲Webull
Webull is a free trading app from Webull Financial. They are a brokerage based out of New York City and regulated by FINRA, you can look them up on BrokerCheck. We have a full review of Webull and their offer here.
Webull has two active bonuses going on right now. The first is a free stock bonus when you open an account. The second is a transfer bonus for transferring an account to Webull.
Here’s our full Webull review.
Webull Free Stock Bonus – up to 40 fractional stocks
For new signups, open an account and they will give you up to 40 fractional stocks. They have no fees and no account minimums so it’s truly free stock. We consider them one of the best Robinhood alternatives.
Get your free stock from Webull
Webull Transfer Bonus – 2% up to $100,000
For a limited time, Webull give you a bonus of 2% up to $100,000 on assets you transfer to an account there. They will also reimburse you up to $100 in any fees you pay to transfer $2,000 or more.
The minimum amount you need to transfer to get a match is $2,000. The first half of the bonus amount will be paid out on August 31, 2025 and the second half will be paid out on August 31, 2026.
Offer expires 10/15/2024.
Get your free stock from Webull
💲Robinhood – free stock (valued $5 - $200)
Robinhood is a no-commission fee brokerage that will give you free stock (valued $5 - $200) when you open an account and link a bank account. There are no other requirements of the offer, you just need to open an account.
No deposit (for the stock, you need to deposit for the cash), no transfer, no nothing.
Here’s our full review of Robinhood.
Get free stock (valued $5 - $200) from Robinhood
Here is also how Robinhood compares to Webull.
TradeStation – up to $3,500
TradeStation has a new account bonus where you can get $150 in cash or $150 in Bitcoin.
To get $150 cash, open an account with the promotion code TSTVAFYB and then fund that account with $500 or more. Then maintain that balance to get the cash deposited in two $75 deposits. The first will be made at the end of the second full month and the second payment will be made at the end of the third full month.
To get $150 in Bitcoin, open an account with the promotion code TSTVAFYH and then deposit $500 worth of crypto (or purchase $500 worth of crypto). Then maintain that balance to receive two $75 worth of Bitcoin payments.
It’s very important you put in the right codes for whatever promotion you want.
There is also a transfer bonus of up to $3,500 when you transfer in at least $1 million. The bonus schedule does start at $5,000 in assets (lower than many on this list) so it’s not just for moneybags!
| Qualifying Assets | Cash Reward |
|---|---|
| $5,000 | $150 |
| $25,000 | $300 |
| $100,000 | $400 |
| $200,000 | $1,000 |
| $500,000 | $2,000 |
| $1,000,000 | $3,500 |
Acorns – $20
Acorns has an investment bonus of $20 when you:
- Set up a Acorns account
- Set up Recurring Investments
- Make your first successful Recurring Investment (min $5)
You will get your $20 within the 10 days of the following month.
Here’s our full review of Acorns.
Public – up to $10,000
Public has a transfer promotion where you can get a big bonus for transferring a lot of assets into your new account. They claim that they, are on average, 2X higher than competing offers.
The amount you get is based on the dollar amount of your assets.
| Transfer Amount | Bonus |
|---|---|
| $5,000 – $24,999 | $150 |
| $25,000 – $99,999 | $250 |
| $100,000 – $249,999 | $600 |
| $250,000 – $499,999 | $1,000 |
| $500,000 – $999,999 | $2,000 |
| $1,000,000 – $4,999,999 | $4,000 |
| $5,000,000+ | $10,000 |
Also, one of the nice perks of Public and their ACAT transfer process is that they will reimburse up to $100 in transfer fees if you bring over at least $1,000.
Offer expires 11/30/224.
Here’s our full Public review.
Tornado – up to $1,000
Tornado has a referral program where you can get up to $1,000 (but at least $10) when you sign up. The referring customer gets $10 to $1,000 too – and it’s a limited time offer.
The only requirement is that you make one trade within a month and you can keep the bonus, which you can withdraw after a year. There are no other requirements for the new account bonus.
There is also a deposit bonus. For a limited time, after you open your account, you can get a bonus based on what you deposit. You need to maintain this amount for one year to keep the deposit bonus.
Here’s our full Tornado review.
E*TRADE – up to $6,000
E*TRADE has offered a brokerage promotion for a long time.
For years, they had an offer where you could get up to $3,000 (if you had over a million dollars in assets to transfer!) and 60 days of free trades if you open a non-retirement brokerage account. The offer has been scaled back a little bit.
With the recent rush of brokerages offering free trades, the promotion is now just cash – remember to use the promotion code . For more, check out our E*Trade review.
| Deposit Amount | Bonus Amount |
|---|---|
| $1,000 – $4,999 | $50 |
| $5,000 – $19,999 | $150 |
| $20,000 – $49,999 | $200 |
| $50,000 – $99,999 | $300 |
| $100,000 – $199,999 | $600 |
| $200,000 – $499,999 | $800 |
| $500,000 – $999,999 | $1,000 |
| $1,000,000 – $1,499,999 | $3,000 |
| $1,500,000 – $1,999,999 | $5,000 |
| $2,000,000+ | $6,000 |
This is for new accounts but there is also an offer for existing accounts (it’s listed on the same page).
(Offer expires 1/31/2025)
SoFi Invest- up to $10,000
SoFi Invest is the brokerage arm of SoFi, the student loan refinancing company. With SoFi Invest, you can manage your portfolio (Active Investing) or go with a roboadvisor approach (Auto Investing). With Active Investing, you can invest in stocks, cryptocurrencies, and ETFs without paying a trading commission.
You will earn a bonus if you transfer funds from another brokerage into a taxable SoFi Invest Active Brokerage or Active retirement account. Your bonus will be determined by how much you transfer.
| Transfer amount | Bonus |
| $5,000 – $24,999.99 | $100 |
| $25,000 – $99,999.999 | $200 |
| $100,000 – $249,999.99 | $500 |
| $250,000 – $499,999.99 | $750 |
| $500,000 – $999,999.99 | $1,000 |
| $1,000,000 – $4,999,999.99 | $2,500 |
| $5,000,000 | $10,000 |
There is a second promotion you may also be eligible for, where you can win up to $1,000. You must open a new SoFi Invest brokerage account and invest at least $25 within the first 30 days. When you set up your account, you will have the opportunity to play an electric “claw” game to grab a prize, which will be between $5 and $1,000 dollars.
Citi Personal Wealth Management – up to $5,000
Citi Personal Wealth Management has a juicy bonus offer when you transfer New-to-Citi funds within 2 months of opening an account. You also will need to enroll in e-delivery of statements and then keep those funds in the account through the end of the next month (or three months after the month of account enrollment). Bonus will be credited three months after you meet the maintenance requirement.
Here’s the Citi bonus transfer schedule:
- Fund with $50,000 – $199,999 – $500
- Fund with $200,000 – $499,999 – $1,000
- Fund with $500,000 – $999,999 – $2,000
- Fund with $1,000,000 – $1,999,999 – $3,000
- Fund with $2,000,000 or more – $5,000
See the offer at Citi
(Offer expires 9/30/24)
Merrill Edge – up to $1,000
Merrill Edge, a Bank of America Company, will give you up to $1,000 if you open a new Merrill Edge account using the offer code 1000PR. You just need to transfer your funds within 45 days, maintain that balance for 90 days, and you will get the cash bonus in 2 weeks. This bonus applies to individual Merrill Edge IRAs or Cash Management Accounts, which is what they call their taxable brokerage accounts.
Here’s the Merrill Edge bonus transfer schedule:
| Qualifying Assets | Cash Bonus |
|---|---|
| $20,000 – $49,999 | $100 |
| $50,000 – $99,999 | $200 |
| $100,000 – $199,999 | $400 |
| $200,000 or more | $1,000 |
Charles Schwab – Multiple Bonuses
Charles Schwab has two account promotional bonuses:
Charles Schwab $101 Starter Kit
Charles Schwab is offering new investors a “Schwab Starter Kit” that includes $101 in stock split up between the top five stocks (“slices”) in the S&P 500. You also get access to investing education and various tools and resources.
To get this, you need to open an account on the promotional page and then fund that account with at least $50 in 30 days. The stocks are “Schwab Stock Slices,” which are simply fractional shares of stock, and you get them on the next trading day.
At the time of this writing, the top five stocks at Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla, Alphabet (Google), and Apple.
See the offer at Charles Schwab
(No expiration shown)
Charles Schwab Investor Reward – up to $6,000
This reward is available to existing and new accounts, you just need to enroll and, within 45 days, deposit at least $50,000. The bonus is based on your deposit amount:
| Make a qualifying net deposit of cash or securities into an eligible account: | Earn a cash bonus of: |
|---|---|
| $50,000–$249,999 | $300 |
| $250,000–$499,999 | $600 |
| $500,000–$999,999 | $1,200 |
| $1,000,000–$4,999,999 | $2,500 |
| $5,000,000 or more | $6,000 |
If you are an existing client, you’ll have to call 800-503-3307 to enroll.
Charles Schwab Refer a Friend – Up to $1,000
Charles Schwab also has a refer a friend bonus when you open up a new account with a referral link (here) and transfer in funds of at least $25,000 within 45 days. The bonus is based on how much you deposit, which follows this schedule:
- Fund with $25,000 – $49,999 – $100
- Fund with $50,000 – $99,999 – $300
- Fund with $100,000 – $499,999 – $500
- Fund with $500,000 or more – $1,000
👉 Open a new account with this Refer a Friend link
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some frequently asked questions about bonuses and the brokerage transfer process.
Almost every brokerage firm supports ACATS, which stands for Automated Customer Account Transfer Service, which lets you transfer your assets “in-kind.” This means that your holdings are transferred without you having to sell them (and create a taxable event). If you have big unrealized gains in a stock, the shares just get moved over without you having to sell them and you keep the same cost basis.
You may run into hiccups if some items can’t be transferred. One common example is Vanguard Admiral shares of their mutual funds. Some brokerages will take them, others won’t. In these cases, you may have to transfer them to another asset type (like the ETF version), which will accept them.
ACATS does take a week or two to complete the transfer.
I don’t think it’s worth switching from broker to broker, grabbing up the bonuses, but the process isn’t difficult.
If you’re looking to make a move anyway, getting paid a little for the effort is better than not being paid.
Some brokers may charge you to leave, which is something you’d be paying anyway, so hopping around may reduce your returns from the bonus perspective.
If you are creating new taxable brokerage accounts, the bonuses will be reported as income and you will have to claim them on your taxes as income.
If you are creating retirement accounts, like an IRA, the bonuses are going into those accounts so you won’t owe taxes on them immediately. For traditional IRAs, you’ll just be taxed when you start taking distributions. Roth IRAs will never be taxed. For each account, review the terms and conditions to see how the brokerage is treating it and you’ll know for certain.
Jim, the Schwab bonus is a targeted offer for Stock Plan Participants, a very narrow group of clients, it is not available for the public. The fine print has more info. You may want to edit the info on your post. The only cash incentive is a $100 bonus via referral from a friend using their unique code.
You make a great point – I missed that Stock Plan Participants was a narrower group, thanks!
What is a “Stock Plan Participant” and how does one qualify for that?
It typically means you are part of a corporate stock plan.
Great point. Its so misleading…….
I see your update was June5th 2019 and you stated E*TRADE had no offer. Did this just become available? I just searched this
account will be credited within one week of the close of the 60-day window, as follows:
Receive
Deposit or Transfer
$2,500 + commission-free trades
$1,000,000+
$1,200 + commission-free trades
$500,000–$999,999
$600 + commission-free trades
$250,000–$499,999
$300 + commission-free trades
$100,000–$249,999
$200 + commission-free trades
$25,000–$99,999
Only commission-free trades
$10,000–$24,999
Yes it looks like it just came back, thanks Bob!
I stumbled onto your site looking for brokerage promotions.
I wanted to thank u for the good info.
I’m gonna try JPM/YOU INVEST. $625 cash, 100 free trades, THEN JUST $2.95 A TRADE. I confirmed via phone just now.
TDA bought out Scottrade acct. AND OFFERED US ZIP! Yet, look at what they r giving “new clients” (+ i’m not wild about TDA platform).
fingers crossed, no small print funny bizness!
$625 never hurts!
Regarding TD Ameritrade’s “refer a friend” promotion, if I had an individual brokerage account at TD Ameritrade but closed it three years ago, would I be eligible for any bonus in this promotion if I signed up for a new one today?
I don’t know but if you are ineligible, TD Ameritrade won’t let me send you a referral. It’ll say “undeliverable.”
The Merrill Edge promotion says, “respond by September 5, 2019” and I tried to apply using the promotion code, and verified that it’s expired 🙁
Sadly, you are correct that the $1,000 version of this offer has expired. Thank you for letting me know, I’ve updated it with the new offer (same code of 600ME) but with a lower bonus.
I have funds in 2 brokerage accounts, (WeiisFargo & Stifel), approximately $150K, what is best move to minimize closing fees and/or maximize promotion incentives? Thanks Bill S
Hi Bill – with $150,000, you could get $500 from TDAmeritrade and that’s the highest cash offer. Depending on how much Wells Fargo and Stifel charge you for an ACAT transfer (that’s asset-to-asset transfer, so you don’t have to sell your holdings), you may save more with Ally Invest and their lower bonus ($300) because they will refund you up to $150 in fees. I still think TDAmeritrade is going to be better with the cash bonus.
Dude, you’re a rock star!! You just made me $375 from Merrill Lynch. Those S.O.B.s I opened an account over the phone and they didn’t tell me about the bonus and I’m a Platinum customer for ten years or something. So I closed it and opened one myself online and now will get the $375 – which is the $250 bonus you have listed above, plus 50% on top if you are a Platinum.
That’s awesome! Congratulations! You should sign up to the newsletter! 🙂
Does anyone know if TD Ameritrade charges asset transfer fees? Thinking of transferring Roth IRA assets into TD & Traditional IRA assets into Ally from Vanguard. Do both IRAs have to be at the same brokerage? Maybe split up non retirement assets in chase & e trade.
Typically a brokerage charges fees to do an ACAT (transfer) OUT of their brokerage. They don’t charge anything to transfer INTO an account.
E*TRADE https://us.etrade.com/what-we-offer/how-it-works/brokerage says “You must be original recipient…”. I checked with them, bonus is only available to those receiving offer directly from E*TRADE
Although you touch on it briefly, a major factor in transferring accounts is which mutual funds and ETFs can be held by the new firm. This is vital because if they aren’t setup to hold that fund, it will get sold as part of the ACAT transfer. Which could have HUGE ramifications as far as the timing, the resulting capital gains/losses, tax implications, etc. Personally, I have found it a nightmare trying to simply find comprehensive lists of what funds the various firms above can/can’t hold. If you have any direct links to such lists that would be a major… Read more »