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Overview of Investment Firm Promotions

The brokerage industry in the U.S. is very competitive, and that competition means brokerage firms are eager to win your business. In many cases, they are so motivated that they will literally pay you to pick them over a rival. These rewards can come in many different forms and incentives. Sometimes, they are non-cash offers. Whatever the reward is, it is often worth the effort to open an account and make a deposit or transfer assets. Most brokers now have online tools to handle these steps, and the process usually takes only a few minutes.

Broker Cash Bonuses

Cash rewards are one of the most common types of brokerage promotions. Open an account, meet the funding requirement, and receive cash from the brokerage firm. Free money. Pretty simple. But of course, there is usually fine print attached to these offers. One of the most common requirements is a minimum deposit or asset transfer.

For example, Betterment has a current investing reward that pays cash based on the size of your qualifying net deposits. A deposit of $2,500 to $9,999 earns $100. A larger deposit of $100,000 to $199,999 earns $750. A very large deposit of $200,000 or more earns a maximum reward of $1,500. This type of tiered structure is very common.

Fine print on these offers also usually includes eligible and ineligible accounts. Common types of ineligible accounts include trusts and joint accounts, although tax-advantaged accounts sometimes do qualify. The account balance may need to be kept for a minimum period of time, and sometimes the applicant must be a U.S. resident. As always, read the fine print.

brokerage account promotions

Transfer Rebates

In a cash-bonus promo, the online broker will often require a deposit or transfer of assets. For that reason, new clients may transfer an old brokerage account into the newly opened one through the ACAT network. This move often leads to a transfer fee charged by the old broker-dealer. That fee is meant to discourage customers from leaving, but as we already mentioned, this is a very competitive industry, and brokerage firms want your business. So many firms will actually refund this ACAT fee. Sometimes, this refund can be stacked on top of a cash bonus, but as always, check the fine print.

A brokerage firm with a long-standing policy on refunding ACAT transfer fees charged by other firms is Robinhood. Customers who transfer accounts to Robinhood and are charged a transfer fee by the outgoing firm simply need to contact Robinhood and request reimbursement. Robinhood does require proof of the charge, which is typically an account statement.

Investment firms don’t like paying these generous incentives with no conditions attached. So they sometimes require a minimum transfer amount or a minimum holding period on the transferred assets. Robinhood, for example, requires a transfer of at least $7,500 and will reimburse up to $75.

Discounted Commissions

You may have heard that online discount broker-dealers now charge $0 commissions. That is true only for many online trades of U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs. Trades in other situations may, and often do, carry trading fees. This is especially true in the world of futures, crypto, and foreign stocks. Be on the lookout for discounts on these types of trades.

tastytrade, for example, currently has a promotion that offers a 200% commission rebate on stock-option and ETF-option trades for your first 30 days. A promo code (DOUBLE2026) is required on this one.

Free Use of Software

Although many brokerage firms have also moved to a free-software model, not all companies have done so. Account minimums or monthly fees may be required to gain access to some trading platforms. This is where free software promos can come in handy.

Lightspeed is a day-trading specialist that offers a suite of trading platforms. The company offers free demos of these programs with very few strings attached. These demos are limited by time, which is the main drawback. Just an email address is enough to begin the process for some of the available demos, including the very popular Lightspeed Trader Pro.

Sterling Trading Tech is the company behind the very famous Sterling Trader Pro and several other trading platforms. These platforms can also be tried in demo form through broker partners such as Lightspeed. Once again, the access is limited by time, but getting started is pretty simple.

brokerage promotions

Free Shares of Stock

Brokerage houses know that people open accounts to trade stocks. So many of them are giving away exactly that—stocks—instead of cash. moomoo is one such brokerage firm.

There are two main tiers in moomoo’s current promotion:

Deposit at least $100 of new cash and receive 5 free stocks valued between $2 and $2,000.
Deposit at least $1,000 and get 15 total free stocks within the same value range.

brokerage bonus

In total, a new account could receive 15 free stocks. That’s a solid bonus, although the odds are still not very good for receiving a stock above $100. The terms & conditions of the special include using ACH or wire for new cash, maintaining the required average asset level for 60 days, and having a valid Social Security Number.

Free Investment Advice

More and more firms are offering automated account management. To promote their robo services, some investment firms still offer ongoing fee waivers below certain balance levels, while others now use cash rewards tied to qualifying deposits.

Betterment, for example, now uses a cash-reward structure for eligible managed investing accounts instead of the older free-management schedule. The reward depends on the size of your qualifying deposits made within the first 45 days after enrolling in the offer.

Some investment-advisory firms still offer ongoing free management below a certain account value. Fidelity, for example, offers free management on the first $25,000 in its robo service Fidelity Go. There’s nothing account holders need to do to obtain this lucrative offer because it is standard fare in the program.

Refer-a-Friend Broker Specials

Refer-a-friend bonuses are very popular. These are deals investment firms offer for getting new customers from existing ones. Despite the name, the referred customers do not always have to be friends. They could, in some cases, be family members or complete strangers. But read the terms & conditions. Interactive Brokers, for example, does not permit account holders to refer family members if they’re in the same household in its refer-a-friend program.

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Non-Cash Broker Awards

Some broker-dealers like to spice up their marketing with something other than the standard fare of cash and stock. Webull, for example, currently has a refer-a-friend special that is giving away free vacations to New York City. Customers who refer friends to Webull are automatically entered into a drawing that will give away stays in the Big Apple in 4-star hotels, meals at the Crown Club, and suite tickets at the Barclays Center.

This promotion and many others appear in Webull’s Promotion Center, which can be found on the Menu page of the mobile app.

Brokerage Promotions Recap

Lots of specials are out there for investors who are willing to take a small amount of time to open an account and make a deposit. In fact, there are so many promotions that it’s hard to avoid them. The important thing to remember is to follow the terms & conditions to maintain eligibility.

Updated on 4/13/2026.

Investment Account Bonuses and Promotions in 2026