Citi Debuts No-Fee Stock Trading to Compete With JPMorgan, Robinhood

Citigroup Inc. will let U.S. retail customers bet on stocks without paying fees as the bank tries to expand its wealth business in the face of fierce competition from Silicon Valley ventures, discount brokerages and big-banking peers.

The Wall Street giant will initially make the new offering -- Citi Self Invest -- available to checking account holders before later marketing it to more people, said David Poole, who heads the U.S. consumer wealth management business. The zero-fee deal applies to individual stocks and exchange-traded funds but will later add other types of investments, such as mutual funds or options, he said.