BY THERESA W. CAREY
Though it started out as an online bank launched by Chicago-based Bank One Corp., WingSpan has branched out to offer other financial services including online trading.
Unlike some other banks (like, say, Wells Fargo) that offer online trading to their customers, WingSpan has no bricks and mortar whatsoever, so you'll have to use another bank's ATM to make a deposit or withdrawal. But it's remarkably easy to move funds from a Wingspan bank account into the brokerage account (and vice versa) when necessary. You can also apply for a loan, stick some money into CDs or get a credit card, and trade via touch-tone phone or a live broker.
Recently we opened a personal account to test WingSpan out for ourselves. The trading screens, like the rest of the site, are clean and free of excessive Web-based gadgetry, such as scrolling tickers or blinking graphics. When entering a stock trade, you can click on a button that brings up a real-time quote, and the order entry screen itself is very well laid out. You have to click on an order status link to see what's going on with the trades you've placed; one welcome addition to an otherwise nicely designed site would be a pop-up notification of order fills.
WingSpan's online statements are also very easy to read. The report of account balances is one of the best we've seen -- clear and concise, and it draws the eye to the funds available for trading. (That's certainly in their interest, but hey, that's why people go to an online broker in the first place.) Some brokers, such as E*Trade, have balance and position reports that are almost a struggle to comprehend. One thing we'd like to see is a screen showing unrealized gains or losses, and the portfolio reports could provide more information on performance.
WingSpan Investment Services Inc.
http://www.wingspanbank.com/
| What can be traded online? | |
| Stocks | Long, short |
| Mutual Funds | Yes (850 no load, no transaction fee) |
| Options | Yes |
| Bonds | No |
| Other | Online banking, loans and insurance. |
| Online Amenities | Reports on 300 companies provided by Pershing, Reuters newswires, Zacks, S&P reports, Lipper mutual fund reports and other investment planning tools. |
| Limit Order Commissions | $19.95 (up to 1000 shares, add $0.02/share for more than 1000 shares) |
| High Account Balance Benefits | None |
Overall, this is a nicely designed site, and though "one-stop shopping" is a dreary cliché, you can't deny its convenience when it actually works. (Are you listening, CitiGroup?) And WingSpan's brokerage fees -- $19.95 for a limit order, up to 1,000 shares -- are lower than those charged by many other banks. Its research offerings, however, are thin compared with online behemoths like E*Trade and DLJ Direct, which charge comparable commissions.
Still, on a busy morning when we had trouble logging into E*Trade's site, we got right into WingSpan's -- so there are definitely benefits to doing business with the new kid on the block.
We rate WingSpan ***.
| Trade Execution | 4 |
| Ease of Use | 4 |
| Reliability/Range of Offerings | 3 |
| Amenities | 3 |
| Commissions | 3 |
| Weighted Tota | 17.25 |
| Rating | *** |
Theresa W. Carey is a contributing editor to Barron's who reviews online brokers for Website of the Week.
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