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Topics grouped from customer reviews, with how many mention each; read the originals below.
Reddit · r/personalfinance · Oct 15, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They were fine with Merrill Edge until a backdoor Roth conversion, when Merrill insisted on leaving a small minimum in the traditional IRA or closing it. They are now considering moving their money away.
Reddit · r/MerrillEdge · Jul 6, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
Mobile app holdings page gets stuck on weekend status and fails to display daily stock changes.
Reddit · r/MerrillEdge · May 5, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
Strong dislike of Merrill led to moving assets to Schwab while keeping just enough to qualify for Preferred Rewards.
Reddit · r/investing · Apr 30, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They reported the Merrill outage still hadn't cleared a day later: their buying power was not visible and trades executed the previous day were not yet reflected in the account.
Reddit · r/Bogleheads · Dec 20, 2025
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They opened Merrill purely to get Bank of America Preferred Rewards, but despite meeting the requirements the accounts never got linked after four escalations and hours on the phone, so they are leaving.
Reddit · r/MerrillEdge · Dec 11, 2025
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
Opening an IRA took a week of review, ACH and mobile check funding both failed with 'Something went wrong' errors, and support said a separate CMA account was needed to fund the IRA.
Reddit · r/Bogleheads · Nov 25, 2025
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They find Merrill's mutual fund interface very unstable and sometimes unusable, with a sell button that may still be broken for certain funds. They use Merrill for the Platinum Honors tier, but call the platform not great.
Reddit · r/personalfinance · Sep 25, 2025
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They had a Self-Directed account for over a year, then Merrill sold all their holdings over outdated visa paperwork, citing a missed call and a letter they never received. They were upset by the lack of real notice.
Reddit · r/fidelityinvestments · Jul 13, 2025
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They opened Merrill Edge for a bonus promotion, found the platform archaic, and after about a year received a letter to close or transfer out. They moved to Fidelity, saying the card cash back alone was not worth staying.
Reddit · r/MerrillEdge · Oct 17, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
Long-standing Roth IRA was abruptly closed over an unupdated profile, triggering early withdrawal taxes and mailing a check to an old address.
Reddit · r/MerrillEdge · Jul 14, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
Cumbersome back-office restrictions, rough platform design, and endless hold music make customer service painful.
Reddit · r/Bogleheads · Jun 26, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They left Merrill Edge because it lacked fractional shares, automatic scheduled buys and some funds they wanted, and its research tools were weak. The BofA link made moving money easy, but they have no regrets leaving.
Reddit · r/MerrillEdge · May 23, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
Requesting options trading approval led to the account being locked for eight days.
Reddit · r/investing · May 5, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They say the Merrill outage cost them real money, that Merrill never owned up to the mistake, and that they filed a FINRA complaint over it.
Reddit · r/investing · May 4, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They hit errors buying shares during the Merrill outage, then found the order missing and recorded at a different price. Phone support was slow, transferred them around, and the fix never appeared in their account.
Reddit · r/investing · May 1, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They were unable to trade during the April 2026 Merrill platform outage and kept getting service unavailable errors while trying to cover shorts, calling it unacceptable and saying they feel stuck there.
Reddit · r/investing · Apr 30, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They were affected by the Merrill trading outage and, unhappy with how it was handled, plan to move their assets to a different brokerage platform.
Reddit · r/personalfinance · Jan 13, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They report their Merrill account was liquidated and then closed over the holidays, with no notice by email, matching the earlier poster's forced-liquidation experience. They were left asking what recourse exists.
Reddit · r/investing · Dec 6, 2025
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They were with Merrill for many years and left, calling it very restrictive and saying it lacked flexibility to choose which shares to sell. They moved to Fidelity and mainly use Schwab now.
Reddit · r/investing · Sep 18, 2025
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They rolled a small employer account to Merrill and disliked the interface, feeling they had far more control and more investment choices at Schwab, though they still advise taking control of the money somewhere.
Reddit · r/fidelityinvestments · Jul 14, 2025
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They were at Merrill largely because a partner works there and left for Fidelity. They found the platform dated, were happy to automate ETF investing instead of mutual funds, and kept only a long-hold portion to retain the rewards tier.
Reddit · r/personalfinance · Mar 28, 2025
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
Their Merrill Edge IRA was closed without any notice, a check went to their workplace and was cashed by someone else, and an early withdrawal penalty followed. They plan to leave Merrill entirely.
Reddit · r/fidelityinvestments · Mar 10, 2025
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They used to like pairing Merrill with BofA but recently moved everything from Merrill to Fidelity, mainly because Merrill does not offer fractional shares, which they found very annoying.
Reddit · r/investing · Feb 8, 2025
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
They had a Merrill Edge account and say all their holdings were liquidated after they missed a mailed request to update information. Merrill agreed certified mail would be wiser, and they moved everything to another broker.
Reddit · r/MerrillEdge · Jul 6, 2026
NegativeSummary of a Reddit post
The app has been disappointing since the account was opened in February, with Robinhood judged better.
Of the 79 reviews with a clear verdict, 34% are positive, 34% mixed and 32% negative. The praise mentioned most is great rewards. The most common complaint is poor support.
The praise reviewers mention most: great rewards (20 reviews), easy to use (13 reviews) and reliable (7 reviews). For example: They hold accounts at both Fidelity and Merrill and keep both, praising the credit card boost as an excellent benefit and using Merrill for their long-term positions.
The complaints reviewers mention most: poor support (13 reviews), buggy app (10 reviews) and account frozen (5 reviews). For example: Cumbersome back-office restrictions, rough platform design, and endless hold music make customer service painful.
It's how well reviewed Merrill Edge Self-Directed is, out of 100. Negative and mixed reviews take points off, and so does having only a few reviews: a product needs plenty of them, compared with the most-reviewed products here, to reach the high 80s and 90s. It's worked out from reviews only, needs at least 5 of them, and updates as new ones come in.
Category: Brokerage. Type: Brokerage account. Fees: $0 online stock, ETF and option trades; no annual account fees (options contract and other fees may apply). Minimum: No balance minimums.
79 are quotes from Reddit, each linked to the original. Customer reviews are checked for spam before they appear. Every review, written here or quoted, is read as positive, mixed or negative.