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ONLINE SERVICES FAQS


General Information

What is Online Brokerage?

What type of online account information is available?

How do I learn more about Online Brokerage?

How do I open an Online Brokerage account?

How do I set up an Online Brokerage account?

How much does Online Brokerage cost?

What types of Online Brokerage accounts are available?

How do I enroll my existing brokerage accounts for Online Brokerage ?

What types of securities can I trade online?

How do I handle computer or connection-related problems relating to Wachovia Online Services or Personal Financial Management Software (Quicken, Quickbooks, Microsoft Money)?

I'm working with a Wachovia Securities Financial Advisor. Can I trade online?

What types of quotes can I access?

Is there a limit to the size of an order?

How do I track a portfolio of securities online?

What type of research can I access?

What are the Online Brokerage system's trading capabilities?

Can I view multiple accounts?

What is Online Brokerage?

Online Brokerage is a convenient way for you to buy and sell stocks, options, and no-load mutual funds through Wachovia Securities. You can also review account balances, history, and recent activity; obtain real-time quotes; and access the latest financial news, market commentary, research reports and industry analyses. 

What type of online account information is available?

You can access account balances, holdings, recent activity, and realized and unrealized gains/losses.   On the View Orders page, you can view completed orders as well as those that have been cancelled, modified, or rejected. 

How do I learn more about Online Brokerage?

To get a comprehensive understanding of Online Brokerage, please view our Online Brokerage demo.

How do I open an Online Brokerage account?

If you already have a Wachovia Securities CAP Account, standard brokerage account, or IRA, you can enroll it for Online Brokerage by calling (800) 326-4434, 8:00am to 7:00pm, ET, Monday through Friday.  Or, you can call that same number and open up a new CAP Account, standard brokerage account, or IRA and it will automatically be enrolled for Online Brokerage.

How do I set up an Online Brokerage account?

You can set up an Online Brokerage account online or by calling (800) 326-4434, 8:00am to 7:00 pm, ET, Monday through Friday.

How much does Online Brokerage cost?

For fee information, please see our complete Wachovia Securities Direct Schedule of Commissions and Fees This document requires Adobe Acrobat Reader..

What types of Online Brokerage accounts are available?

Your Online Brokerage account can be established as a cash account or a margin account.

How do I enroll my existing brokerage accounts for Online Brokerage ?

You can link your existing brokerage accounts to your Online Brokerage account in one of two ways: online or over the phone by calling (800) 326-4434, 8:00am to 7:00pm, ET, Monday through Friday.   

What types of securities can I trade online?

Most listed stocks, NASDAQ, Bulletin Board, and OTC securities can be traded online, as well as many no-load mutual funds.   All securities sold must be in your brokerage account at the time you trade.

How do I handle computer or connection-related problems relating to Wachovia Online Services or Personal Financial Management Software (Quicken, Quickbooks, Microsoft Money)?

In addition to answering account-related questions, Wachovia’s customer service representatives at Wachovia Direct Access can help you troubleshoot some computer problems affecting the performance of the online services you use through Wachovia. Online Services can be reached at (800) 950-2296 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Press option 2 for technical questions, 3 to for password issues.

Online Banking, BillPay and Brokerage services
Among the issues we can help you address:
· Login problems—we can help with forgotten or incorrect passwords and user IDs, and fix other login-related problems.
· Minimum system requirements—we can determine if your browser and/or O/S meets these system requirements.
· Browser not configured to accept cookies—your computer must accept cookies to give you full use of Online Services. We can discuss which ones we use, why we use them, and how they can help improve your online experience with us.
· Slow connections—we can help you clean out your temporary internet files to help improve your connection to Online Services.
· Security popup messages—we can help you set our website up as a “trusted site” so you will have the optimum experience with us.
· Javascript—we can ensure your browser is javascript enabled, so you can use all features our website has to offer.
· Basic Troubleshooting—we can diagnose and fix the most common problems for various internet connection types such as dial up, cable modems, and DSL lines.

Personal Finance Management Software
We can also help you address certain issues with Personal Financial Management (PFM) software, such as Quicken, Quickbooks, and MS Money:
· Connectivity errors—we can make sure you’re using the correct PIN and Customer ID, that your PFM software correctly recognizes your internet connection, and that you have correctly identified the proper financial institution so your software can communicate with Wachovia.
· Software setup errors—we can help you set up your data file and enable all your eligible accounts so you can download transactions and pay bills.
· Backing up and restoring files—we can help you save information or retrieve saved information.
· Software upgrades—we can help you upgrade to a newer version so you don’t have to start from scratch and lose all your data and history.

Before calling, you may wish to review the Wachovia Software Support Help Page for step-by-step troubleshooting with most PFM software problems. For topics not addressed here, you may refer to the following third-party web addresses:
Intuit Technical Support 
Microsoft Technical Support 

Note: There may be a charge for certain kinds of technical assistance when calling a third-party vendor.

For issues not listed here, contact your computer manufacturer, your Internet Service Provider (eg, AOL, AT&T), or your Operating System manufacturer (e.g., Microsoft) for assistance.

Issues we don’t address:
· Inability to connect to the Internet
· Viruses and spyware
· Software downloads
· Lost files
· Slow connections due to memory problems
· Hardware problems

I'm working with a Wachovia Securities Financial Advisor. Can I trade online?

Yes.  All you need to do is enroll your existing brokerage account for Online Brokerage either online or by calling (800) 326-4434, 8:00am to 7:00pm, ET, Monday through Friday.

What types of quotes can I access?

You can obtain unlimited, free, real-time quotes, or delayed quotes. 

Is there a limit to the size of an order?

Generally, buy orders for securities are limited to the available cash in a Cash Account and the available buying power in a Margin Account (for marginable securities).  You may enter open orders up to, but not exceeding, your available Cash or Buying Power balance.

Larger orders (“block” trades) require special handling, which may delay the report of your execution.  Also, the execution price on a block trade may vary greatly from the current quote, particularly for the thinly-traded and low-priced stocks;  for this reason, we do not recommend market orders on these types of trades.

If you wish to place an order that exceeds the following parameters, you must contact your Financial Advisor for placement of that transaction:

  • Equity market/stop orders:   10,000 shares
  • Equity limit/stop limit orders:   50,000 shares
  • Option orders (market or limit):   99 contracts
How do I track a portfolio of securities online?

You can create up to four Watch Lists, each with up to 100 securities.   You can give each one of your Watch Lists a nickname for easy reference and choose to have your favorite Watch List appear on the Market Snapshot page.

What type of research can I access?

As an Online Brokerage customer, you have access to market, industry and company research and commentary; equity and mutual fund screeners; hot lists of recommended stocks; and prospectuses and reports on over 11,000 mutual funds.   

What are the Online Brokerage system's trading capabilities?

With Online Brokerage, you can submit orders anytime, day or night, for stocks, options, and no-load mutual funds.   You can place market, stop, limit, and stop-limit orders.

Market orders placed during normal market hours will be executed the same day; otherwise, those orders will be executed the next trading day.   To ensure that orders are accurately processed at market close (4:00pm ET), order entry is unavailable between 3:58pm and 4:03pm ET.

In addition to online confirmation, you will receive a printed confirmation of your trades by mail.

Can I view multiple accounts?

Yes.  You can use Online Brokerage to access all accounts in which you have ownership.   For your convenience, you can change account views with a drop-down list and choose to view an individual account or all the accounts in your household.


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Securities and Insurance Products: Not Insured by FDIC or any Federal Government Agency; May Lose Value; Not a Deposit of or Guaranteed by a Bank or any Bank Affiliate

Wachovia Securities is the trade name used by two separate, registered broker-dealers and non-bank affiliates of Wachovia Corporation providing certain retail securities brokerage services: Wachovia Securities, LLC, Member NYSE/SIPC, and Wachovia Securities Financial Network, LLC, Member FINRA /SIPC.

Banking and financial services offered by Wachovia Bank, National Association and its affiliates. See specific product pages for details.

Only deposit products are FDIC-insured.