Mailing Address
200 Bay Street, North Tower
P.O. Box 75
Toronto, ON
M5J 2Z5
https://www.rbcdirectinvesting.com/–>
Phone: 1-800-769-2560, option 4
Customer Service Hours: Mon to Fri 7am to 8pm ET
RBC Direct Investing Review
RBC Direct Investing has been working towards improving the functionality, pricing and features of their online trading platform. Early in 2014, they caused a major pricing shift among Canadian discount brokerages by lowering their standard commission pricing to $9.95 per trade.
As a bank-owned brokerage, RBC Direct Investing offers the convenience of being able to manage multiple financial products via the RBC online platform. The integration with holders of certain RBC banking plans may enable certain client to be exempt from paying certain account fees at RBC Direct Investing.
Another feature about RBC Direct Investing that makes it stand out from its bank-owned online brokerage peers is the community feature. The community section allows comparison with other investors, provides educational support and it contains a moderated forum for asking questions to the community or RBC Direct Investing.
Pricing & Fees
One of the important points to note is that there is a quarterly fee (called an “Inactivity Fee”) charged to those with balances under $15,000 and there are also several ways to have this fee waived. Clients who deposit at least $100 per month in their RBC Direct Investing account as part of a pre-authorized contribution plan, those who make at least 3 commission-generating trades per quarter, those who have a group RRSP with RBC Direct Investing, those who qualify for the RBC Direct Investing Royal Circle program as well as those who are current student banking package holders (or have been in the past 5 years) and clients who have an RBC VIP banking package can all have their quarterly inactivity fee waived.
Account Types
Although it is not a ‘live’ account, RBC Direct Investing also offers practice accounts to RBC (as well as RBC Direct Investing) clients. The accounts are funded with $100,000 in practice money and individuals can use a cash, margin or RSP configuration to practice with.
Platform/Data
Reviews & Ratings
Review | What Review Measures | Score | Date of Ranking |
---|---|---|---|
Dalbar Canada Review | Client Service | Top Rating Top Rating |
January 2015 January 2014 |
Globe and Mail Review | Overall Impression | Leter Grade “B” Leter Grade “B” Leter Grade “B” 5th out of 12 Letter Grade “B-” 7th out of 12 Letter Grade “B” 5th out of 12 Letter Grade “B” |
February 2019 February 2018 December 2016 December 2016 December 2015 December 2015 November 2014 November 2014 November 2013 |
JD Power Review | Investor Satisfaction | 6th out of 8 5th out of 8 6th out of 10 4th out of 10 4th out of 10 3rd out of 7 8th out of 11 |
June 2019 September 2018 September 2017 September 2016 September 2015 September 2014 September 2013 |
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For your best interest stay clear of RBC’s platform, it is not dependable. It just randomly will stop working properly, especially first thing in the morning at the start of trading 6:30am pacific time. You can’t put your online buy and sells in as the trading tab during these outage times will not even open, or the order status tab to cancel your trades, stay clear of their investing site. I lost out on many great opportunities as I couldn’t get do my trade, as their system was down. When I would try to call in, my price point had past as it can take up to 10-15 minutes to get a rep. on the phone. I have since switched to another provider. I have no idea how they can even operate with their system.
As well RBC does not offer premarket or aftermarket online trading which is really important to have.
Hi Dale,
Thanks for sharing your experiences. The last thing you want when rocking up to a trading platform pre-market is to not have it ready to go to work. This is especially true for the west-coasters who have to do it at 6:30am! Hopefully life is greener on the other side of whatever fence you’re on now.