Home Study in US [Account Opening Tutorial] Firstrade, can easily open an account in 5 minutes

[Account Opening Tutorial] Firstrade, can easily open an account in 5 minutes

by Jack
firstrade
Reading Time: 8 minutes

Whether you want to invest in US stocks and overseas global ETFs in Taiwan, or you want to invest in US stocks and ETFs in the US, Firstrade is one of the very good US brokers.

In addition to the full Chinese operation interface and 24-hour Chinese and English customer service, many stocks and ETFs are free of transaction fees, and account opening does not require any account opening fees, and you can easily open an account as long as you are online!

Only need a passport, mobile phone number, Email, you can easily open an account online!

If you want to buy US stocks or low-renew ETFs in Taiwan, you need a US brokerage firm. It just so happens that Firstrade is very friendly to the Chinese, and opening an account online is quick and easy. I use Firstrade to buy my number one. An ETF, today I will take you to open an account by hand and start the road to US stock investment!

It will mainly focus on how to open an account, remit USD500 to an investment brokerage firm, and how to remit it back to Taiwan from the brokerage firm after investment.

Contents

Introduction to Firstrade

I mainly apply for this one because of the “online application account”, “zero transaction fee”, “various landmarks”, especially if I want to buy U.S. stocks, ETFs (VTI, VEU…) can be easily bought, and No transaction fees!

Introduction

Established securities firms in the United States have provided more than 700 free ETFs. Recently, all stocks and ETFs are free processing fees.

For investors, the most important thing is that Firstrade has “zero handling fees” in many stocks and ETFs, so you can save a lot of handling fees in trading.

Regardless of investing in overseas ETFs, it will save a lot of cost than investing in ETFs in Taiwan, and there are various international targets, such as the common S&P500, US bonds, Vanguard, etc.

4 advantages

Simple and fast, you can apply for an account online. It is very friendly to overseas investors, especially Taiwanese!

Advantage 1: Full Chinese interface, Chinese customer service

Even if you don’t speak English, don’t worry, the interface is all in Chinese, and there is 24-hour Chinese customer service!

Advantage 2: Free transaction fees

When investing in ETFs in Taiwan, the most common costs are management fees and handling fees. However, whether Firstrade buys US stocks or ETFs, there are no handling fees!

Advantage 3. SEC member of the US Securities Regulatory Commission (investor 500,000 US dollars limit guarantee)

Protect investors’ assets!

Advantage four, simple and fast “online application”

It only takes 5 steps, and all steps take about 20 minutes, you can open an account easily! After opening an account, you can also use your foreign currency account to easily deposit funds! Start the investment road!

Extended reading: [Account Opening Teaching] Citibank Global Money Transfer, how to use Taiwan-dollar money flow remittance teaching, easy to open an account in 3 steps

Firstrade Trading Fee

Product Categorytransaction fee
stockUSD 0
ETFsUSD 0
Short-term transactionUSD 0
OptionUSD 0
Mutual FundNo Transaction Fee (NTF) FundUSD 0
No-Load FundUSD 0
Sales Charge (Load) FundUSD 0
Firstrade

Firstrade Transaction Fee Sorting Sheet

prepare materials

  1. Passport (need to upload the front and back)
  2. Mobile phone number (for mobile phone authentication)
  3. email electronic mailbox

Open Firstrade account in 5 steps

Step 1. Click on the official website application link

1.1 Click “Open Account Now”

Into the Firstrade official website, click on the top of the page ” immediately open an account .”

Firstrade account opening

1.2 Click “Apply for International Account”

Because I’m not an American, click “Apply for an International Account”

1.3 Mobile phone number verification

Mobile phone verification, if the mobile phone is 0930-123-456, you can fill in (+886)930-123-456.

  1. Enter mobile phone number
  2. Click “Get Verification Code”
  3. Enter confirmation code
  4. Click “Continue”

Step 2, upload your passport

Divide the passport into two pages and upload it on the signature page, and upload it after signing by the way.

The system will automatically detect!

  • Make sure your passport has not expired
  • Signature page, need to sign (both Chinese and English are acceptable)
  • Taiwan ID card is also available, just upload the front and back sides!

Step 3: Fill in personal information & risk information

3.1 Basic information

According to the name, residential address, program, etc. on the passport, you need to fill in English.

Chinese to English translation of residential address: please refer to Chunghwa Post Translation . If the address is too long, enter it in two long lines!

Note: For the tax filing number of the place of residence, a person in Taiwan can fill in the ID number. If the person has an SSN in the United States, he can fill in the SSN on the tax filing number of the place of residence.

3.2 Permission activation

  • Investment experience: please fill in well or rich
  • Investment target: please fill in speculation and value-added
  • Other trading options: Novices suggest that financing, options, and extended time trading should not be opened first. (In order to come and need it, you can easily open it by contacting customer service)

Step 4. Set account password & signature

4.1 Set account password

Account, password, PIN code will be set here, it is strongly recommended to record it! (Forget it, no one can help you, it is recommended to take a picture or copy it by hand)

4.2 Set handwritten signature

Read the user instructions and attach your digital signature!

Step 5. Waiting for approval

Usually, there will be a letter in a few days to inform your account that you can remit money and deposit, and within 2-3 working days , you will receive an email with a successful account opening.

Login account

Step one, enter the account password

Log in to Firstrade , enter the account and password we set before

Step two, enter the PIN code

The 4-digit PIN we set before!

Step 3. Fill in the form (only needed for the first time)

Only the first one needs to fill in YES, the others are filled in NO.

Deposit USD500 way

There are two main ways to deposit funds. If you are using a Taiwanese foreign currency account, you can refer to the first “Taiwan Deposit Method”, which requires international remittance.

For the first time, you can send USD500 or USD1000 into your account first!

But if you already have a U.S. account, you can easily bind the U.S. account and transfer it right away.

Extended reading: [Account Opening Teaching] Citibank Global Money Transfer, how to use Taiwan-dollar money flow remittance teaching, easy to open an account in 3 steps

Method one, the way to deposit funds in Taiwan, easy to deposit in 4 steps

Step 1. Click “My Account”/”Deposit/Transfer”

Step 2. Click “Bank Transfer” / “International”

Step three, go to the bank, foreign currency account, ask the bank clerk for help

Record the transfer information, go to your foreign currency account, and ask your bank clerk to help you transfer to this account!

Method 2: US deposit method, electronic transfer is fine

If you already have a U.S. account, you can easily bind it and you can circulate funds! I am tied to the Chase Bank account I used for studying abroad, so it is very convenient to transfer money to each other.

Withdrawal method

There are also two ways to withdraw funds. If you want to remit to a Taiwan account, you will need to fill in the “Authorization Form for Remittance”, but if you already have a U.S. account, you can easily transfer to your U.S. account.

Method 1, Taiwan gold withdrawal method, 4 steps to withdraw money easily

The general international withdrawal fee is about USD35, and you will need to fill in the “Authorization Form for Outward Remittance”.

Step one, customer service, form center

Step 2. Click “Remittance Authorization Form-International”

Step 3: Fill in the “Remittance Authorization Form-International”

You can print out the form or fill it out directly on the PDF. In the second step, you must write clearly. If you are not sure, you can ask the bank clerk to help you write the SWIFT code.

Step 4: Upload “Remittance Authorization Form-International”

Upload the form you just filled out, and wait for the notification. Usually, you will receive a phone confirmation from Firstrade in 2-3 days! You are ready to receive your withdrawal amount!

Method 2: U.S. withdrawal method

If you already have a U.S. account, you can easily bind it and you can circulate funds! I am tied to the Chase Bank account I used for studying abroad, so it is very convenient to transfer money to each other.

Further reading: 3 steps to open an account with Bank of America

Frequently QAF for Readers

Q1: Approximately how long will it take for the remittance to enter the Firstrade account?

Usually about 2-3 working days, it will arrive.

Q2: How much is the recommended deposit for the Firstrade account for the first time?

I would suggest that whether you are in Taiwan or the United States, you can deposit more than USD500.

If you are in Taiwan, I would recommend remitting a little more at once to reduce the exchange rate difference and the proportion of intermediate handling fees.

Introduction to 
Firstrade

Q3: How to reduce the “cost” of international remittances?

International remittances are most concerned about the cost of remittance:

1. Wire transfer fee

2. Citi Global Express can easily solve this problem. For many years, Citi International Wire Transfer has “zero handling fee” and “zero time difference.”

Extended reading: 
[Account Opening Teaching] Citibank Global Money Transfer, how to use Taiwan-dollar money flow remittance teaching, easy to open an account in 3 steps

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2 comments

BRENDAN MENDES May 6, 2023 - 11:43 am

Hello Jack,
Is there a FirstTrade client servicing representative that I can approach in Taipei, Taiwan in order to open a First Trade Account.
An address or a Contact Number.
I would greatly appreciate it if you could provide me with some details.
I’m leaving you my email ID.
Thanks in advance,
Brendan Mendes

Reply
Jack May 8, 2023 - 11:38 pm

Hi Brendan,

I think there is only few options for you to contact Firstrade.
https://www.firstrade.com/support/contact

Unfortunately, there is no client service in Taipei.

Best,
Jack

Reply

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