With more than 30 years of service, TD Ameritrade started out as a small brokerage firm in Omaha, Nebraska. The company where TD Ameritrade finds its roots from was called First Omaha Securities, Inc. It specialized in discount brokerage and trading services which were aimed at private and individual investors. First Omaha Securities, Inc. underwent many name changes, including First National Brokerage Services, Inc., and later on to Accutrade, Inc. In 1983, the company adopted and registered what is now known as the TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc., which acts as the clearing agent and office for TD Ameritrade, Inc.
TD Ameritrade provides different financial and trading services to their customers, among them financial management advice, stocks and option trading, ETFs, futures and mutual funds, fixed incomes and loans. Although they are an American-owned and based company, with more than 6 million customers in the United States, TD Ameritrade also has a lot of clients in other countries around the world. TD Ameritrade has continually expanded through the years by purchasing and merging with many financial, trading and holding companies and institutions. This continuous growth in its acquisitions and assets made TD Ameritrade one of the largest business organizations in the United States.
One of the major reasons why TD Ameritrade is a well-known broker, and holdings corporation, is because it is one of the pioneers of online trading. Even before the internet boom, they started giving their clients in 1988 the opportunity to make orders and trading transactions through the use of touch tone telephones. In 1995, TD Ameritrade, then known as Ameritrade Holding Corporation, bought K. Aufhauser & Company, Inc., another brokerage firm. The acquisition also gave Ameritrade Holding full ownership of WealthWeb. WealthWeb is an internet based system which allows online trading. After this, Ameritrade Holding also came out with eBroker, which was made possible with their purchase of All American Brokers, Inc. in 1996. eBroker dealt with purely online trading services. Ameritrade Holding Corporation then combines the best products and attributes of the different companies and organizations that they have acquired through the years and introduced Ameritrade, Inc. in 1997. It was only in 2006 when they started using the name TD Ameritrade as they are known now.
TD Ameritrade is often praised by many people who have used their services, or are continuing users or clients because of the many services and features that their online trading systems have to offer. As early as 1998, they have been providing their clients with different tools which gave them the ability to forecast and research best possible trading options. One of these was one of the earliest interactive simulator applications to come out in 1998, which was called "Darwin: Survival of the Fittest ". This interactive software allowed a user to make orders and entries and see how they would fare in certain trading conditions and environments. From this early simulating software, TD Ameritrade continued to come out with other trading aids for their customers. They also developed the Ameritrade Online Investor Index, QuoteScope, Market Motion Detector, SnapTicket, StrategyDesk and Trade Triggers. TD Ameritrade was also one of the first trading and holdings organizations to engage in "paperless" account registration, with their Ameritrade "Express Account Opening" feature in their website.
To be able to use these different tools and services of TD Ameritrade, a potential customer can fill up an online application at the firm's website in order for them to open an account with TD Ameritrade. There is no initial deposit required but they have the option to put in $2,000.00 into their account if they would like to receive and be included in different possible options and benefits. If they will then proceed to engage in any internet trading transactions, they will need to pay $9.99 for every trade done online. TD Ameritrade clients are also given real time trading feedback and monitoring. They will also receive email feedback if they would like, and TD Ameritrade gives them the ability to observe the market with their "extended hours trading".
TD Ameritrade also has a premium service for their most active and high trading clients. The Ameritrade Apex allows these selected clients to use the many advanced tools and exclusive services of TD Ameritrade. They are also are not charged any registration or for the services given out by TD Ameritrade to them.
There are also some people who are not satisfied with TD Ameritrade and some of their services. One issue that commonly comes out is the prices and fees of the services that they offer. Many claim that TD Ameritrade's fees are expensive as compared with other trading companies. There have also been numerous complaints about difficulties with reaching their customer service hotlines. TD Ameritrade also encountered major challenges when they had cases of network attacks and database theft which resulted in legal problems. This was one major reason why a lot of their customers left them. There were also instances when TD Ameritrade had problems with some of the applications and systems that they used for their online trading tools.