Schwab Cuts Online Trading Fee To $8.95

Charles Schwab Corp. is reducing the cost of online trades to a flat $8.95 cents effective Jan. 19.

The discount brokerage says the new commission covers all sales and purchases regardless of account size, trading frequency and the number of shares being bought or sold.

This should reduce transaction costs for customers with smaller portfolios, or who make relatively few trades.

Schwab currently charges $12.95 per trade for customers who don’t hold at least $1 million worth of assets its accounts, or who make fewer than 120 trades per year.

The change also eliminates all surcharges currently imposed on trades of more than 1,000 shares.