Robinhood now has competitors, ETrade, TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab. Earlier this week a group of broker giants affirmatively eliminated commissions on trades. Shares of the discount brokerages dropped with TD Ameritrade leading the decline.
Devin Ryan, analyst at JMP says that the Schwab news comes as the market enters a new commission price war as free trading has shifted towards the norm. US Based brokerage firm, Interactive Brokers, informed the public that it would also offer free trading as a part of it’s “Lite” version of it’s trading platform.
Analysts at Jefferies expects the move to drive consolidation within the sector. Meanwhile Robinhood, investing app that is popular with younger generation, said the changes in the industry reflect a customer focus that it has embraced since its beginning.