Buy Bitcoin at RBC Direct Investing
Investors who are looking to trade popular cryptocurrencies, such as BAT, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash,
Cardano, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Shiba Inu, NEO, Ripple, Stellar, cannot do it on
RBC Direct Investing. The broker simply does not offer them. For Ethereum, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dash, Zcash, Stellar,
Dogecoin, and many more coins trading, investors can use
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RBC Direct Investing Overview
RBC Direct Investing is the stock broker arm of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC),Canada’s largest bank and a top 50 bank in the global stage. As such, expectations for quality service and reliable support is extremely high - and RBC Direct Investing delivers, albeit at a higher cost compared to some of its peers.
Opening An Account
One of the biggest advantages of opening an account associated with one of the major Canadian banks is the ability to sit down with an advisor at a branch to discuss the finer details and ask tough questions. This holds true for RBC Direct Investing accounts which a financial advisor at a local RBC branch can help a new client open.
For added convenience and speed, accounts can also be opened online. A new account holder can open a standard non-registered account, Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA),
Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) and various other account types. Accounts can hold cash and securities in both Canadian and U.S. Dollars.
Costs
The cost of investing can add up over the years so investors are always looking to save a few bucks wherever possible. Unfortunately, RBC Direct Investing’s platform is on the expensive end of the spectrum.
Each trade costs $9.95 regardless of the size of the order. By comparison, Questrade, an independent brokerage firm charges one cent per share with a $4.95
minimum and up to $9.95. Questrade also offers a more competitive pricing plan that charges one cent a share with a no minimum fee - but this does
require a monthly data subscription that can cost upwards of $75 a month.
RBC Direct Investing does however offer account holders the ability to buy and sell Series D mutual funds for free. A Series D mutual fund offers investors exposure to a professionally managed portfolio without the costs associated with a sales representative. It is ideal for investors looking to invest a small amount of cash on a regular basis without getting smacked with RBC Direct Investing’s $9.95 fee each time as they would for buying stock.
Active investors and traders with more than 150 transactions in a quarter are given a price break and pay $7 per trade. However, this is still more expensive than firms like Questrade.
Finally, RBC Direct Investing does offer clients the ability to use credit card points collected from a participating RBC credit card to cover the cost of transactions.
Customer Support
Every company, regardless of their size and type of business, needs to guarantee their clients the best possible level of service.
RBC Direct Investing has a dedicated toll-free 1-800 number for clients and representatives are available Monday to Friday from 7 AM ET to 8 PM ET. This does fall short of other brokerages associated with major banks, such as Scotia Bank’s iTRADE that offers 10 hours of support via phone on Saturday.
There is also an option to e-mail a query through a secure messaging system but this is never recommended for security reasons.
RBC Direct Investing’s support also lacks a chat option for support. On the other hand, clients that open an RBC Direct Investing account through a representative can always count on the branch to support their needs.
Investing Platform
An online trading platform needs to be clear to understand. The average investor certainly checks their account balance on a daily, if not weekly basis, but may only place a trade once a month if at all.
RBC Direct Investing doesn’t fail in this regard. Once a user logs on to the platform, a snapchat of their account balance is displayed in both Canadian dollars and US dollars.
Placing a trade, either on the buy or sell side is just as clean and easy to understand.
Bonus Perks
There is no doubt that RBC Direct Investing’s platform is on the more expensive side of the spectrum. As such, clients can reasonably assume they will receive a higher level of service - and they do.
RBC Direct Investing’s clients have access to Morningstar Industry analysts who provide research reports on Canadian and US companies. Clients also have access to Morningstar’s lists of top picks, for example the ‘Canada Core Pick Lists’ details “the most attractively valued names among larger Canadian companies with sustainable competitive advantages.”
Other pick lists include Morningstar’s “best picks for core equity investments in large-cap stocks.”
Naturally, investors looking for any sort of edge can benefit from this offering, but the question each individual needs to ask themselves is if it is worth the extra trading fees compared to some of its peers.
RBC Direct Investing Review Summary
RBC Direct Investing isn’t the cheapest option out there, but most investors tend to appreciate the ability to gather their entire financial snapchat with one log in. In this case, RBC’s online platform does allow for a user to see on the same page their banking information, savings information, credit card balance and investments - assuming all of these accounts are associated with RBC’s banking and credit divisions.
If this is worth paying up to $5 extra per stock transaction then RBC Direct Investing most certainly offers a compelling proposition. For investors
looking for a bargain pricing or to trade actively, Questrade is a much better broker.
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