Truist Financial has launched Truist Trade, a self-directed investing solution that allows clients to open investment accounts and conduct online trading.

The $534 billion bank unveiled the offering last week as an addition to its Truist Wealth portfolio, according to a Truist release. There are no minimum account requirements, along with commission-free trades for stocks, EFTs and mutual funds.

The solution “[adds] another option for clients to invest with us digitally,” Kacy Howard, Truist Wealth’s senior vice president of digital investing, told Bank Automation News, noting, “This is a complementary product across the entire spectrum of all client types.”

Truist Trade follows the August launch of robot advisor Truist Invest  and Truist Invest Pro, a hybrid approach of automated investing and financial advisor assistance. “The thought process behind all of these options is meeting clients where they are, so they can work with us based on their preferences,” Howard said.

“The solution is really convenient, both from the onboarding and the trading side,” she said, adding that customers can open a Truist Trade account on Truist’s website in just five to 10 minutes and can access their account via online banking or mobile app.

The application process is built into Truist’s in-house digital commerce platform, which connects to the bank’s custodians via API, Howard said.

Client collaboration

Truist Trade was developed at the bank’s Innovation and Technology Center, a 100,000-square-foot technology research hub and collaborative space that opened in June at Truist’s Charlotte, N.C., headquarters, Howard told BAN.

“Throughout the development cycle, we use client research, we iterate on that, we go research more, and we take the solution in front of the clients as much as possible to test [the product] and see how the clients are feeling about the solutions,” she said.

This strategy has become “standard” at Truist following the 2019 merger of BB&T and SunTrust Banks, Howard noted.

The client-driven approach allows the bank to have a better understanding of where people are in their financial journey, Sherry Graziano, head of digital banking and contact centers at Truist, told BAN. “It’s about listening to our clients,” she said.

“Truist Trade is just the latest example of how we’re creating a seamless and effortless connection between peoples’ financial lives and their real lives,” Graziano added.

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