While this number reflects people who entered the system numerous times, it still represents the biggest online day the brokerage has ever seen. Schwab now has more than 1.3 million online accounts, up from a little over 600,000 at the beginning of 1997. While Schwab is still by far the largest online brokerage, it lost market share in 1997 to some of its smaller competitors. AmeriTrade claims over 150,000 online clients. Datek and Waterhouse also made gains during the year.
Analysts expect the marketplace to continue growing at a breakneck pace.
With all of the activity around banking services, international expansion, and consolidation, it looks like 1998 is going to be another wild year. The ferocious competition continues to cause downward pressure on commissions. Not everyone is entering the price war. Schwab, for example, is expanding the research available for its online customers. This would seem to match the results of the Forrester survey, which found that 46 percent of those trading online wanted advice for their trades.