For the first time in more than three years, the online investing services at TD Waterhouse have outperformed Credential Direct in a scorecard of online discount brokerages.

The latest Surviscor Online Discount Brokerage scorCard, which audits the online features and functionalities of brokerages and scores each firm on a 100-point scale, was released on Friday. Conducted between June and August, it used participant feedback, independent website reviews, and ongoing analysis to determine the scores in seven main categories and 31 sub-categories.

TD Waterhouse earned the highest score of the 15 firms analyzed, at 57.29, marginally higher than Credential Direct’s score of 57.08. Of six scorCard reviews conducted in the past three years, Credential Direct earned the top spot in the previous five.

In the latest study, TD captured the top spot in four of the seven main categories including website design, market intelligence, website transactions and online resources, while Credential Direct earned top marks for account services.

Close behind the top two was BMO InvestorLine, which was commended for strong services in the ‘getting started’ category, and RBC Direct Investing, in fourth place.

ScotiaMcLeod Direct Investing was sixth, at 50.76, while Scotiabank’s newly branded iTrade brokerage took the seventh spot with a score of 46.70. CIBC Investor’s Edge ranked the lowest of the big five bank-owned firms, in the tenth spot with a score of 44.29.

Other firms in the top 10 included Qtrade in fifth place, which beat all the other firms in terms of rapid e-mail responsiveness, and Questrade in eighth place, which earned the top spot for cost of services.

National Bank Direct Brokerage earned the ninth spot, with a score of 45.44. Earning the lowest score in the study was JitneyTrade, at 33.73.

The analysis introduced a more robust scorCard than previous versions, with improved categories and more sub-categories.

In terms of new trends, the study found that model portfolio tools are on the rise, including a growing number of equity and exchange-traded fund model portfolios, in addition to existing mutual fund-based portfolios.

The study also noted that new practice accounts were introduced at such major firms as RBC and Scotia, allowing users to experience the websites before becoming clients. In addition, the scorCard found that brokerages continued to add more research to their offerings.

Areas needing improvement across the industry, according to the study, include services for prospective clients, such as account opening and public website offerings, and e-mail response time, which currently averages two days.

Surviscor is planning to further expand its analysis services by allowing online consumers the ability to reference data to make educated account decisions based on their own preferences and needs, according to Glenn LaCoste, president of Surviscor.

IE