Honors From Barron's, StockBrokers.com, Corporate Insight, Investor's Business Daily and the Customer Service Institute of America Highlight the Strength of Merrill Edge's Offering

"We created Merrill Edge with the purpose of making investment advice and guidance more accessible to clients, which helps them to better pursue their financial goals."

Merrill Edge announced today that it has been honored in five separate industry reviews, including recognition as a customer service leader, a provider of excellent content for investors and one of the top online brokers by Barron's. The strength and popularity of the Merrill Edge platform among clients is reflected in its 10 percent year-over-year growth in total Merrill Edge accounts in 2013.

"We welcome these recent awards as confirmation of our strategy to combine access to the investment capabilities of Merrill Lynch and convenience of Bank of America banking to deliver a simple and convenient way for clients to manage their finances," said Alok Prasad, head of Merrill Edge. "We created Merrill Edge with the purpose of making investment advice and guidance more accessible to clients, which helps them to better pursue their financial goals."

2014 Barron's Online Brokerage Review
Merrill Edge received an overall ranking of four stars on the 2014 Barron's Online Brokerage Review, and moved up three positions from last year's review - rising to tenth among the 20 firms evaluated. Merrill Edge also earned a ranking of four points or higher in the following areas:

  • Research Amenities: 4.6 out of 5.
  • Customer Service/Education: 4.5 out of 5.
  • Portfolio Analysis andReports: 4.5 out of 5.
  • Mobile: 4.2 out of 5.


In addition, Barron's ranked Merrill Edge among the best in the following categories:

  • Best for In-person Service: 4 stars.
  • Best for Long-term Investing: 4 stars.
  • Lowest Occasional Trader's Monthly Cost:No. 3 out of 20.


StockBrokers.com 2014 Online Broker Review
The StockBrokers.com 2014 Online Broker Review gave Merrill Edge high marks in its first review by the site. Based on in-depth individual reviews and analysis of 266 variables across eight key areas, Merrill Edge came in at No. 3 overall with 4.5 stars out of 5 and topped all competitors in Banking Services. Merrill Edge was also recognized in the following categories:

  • Best in Class distinction: Customer Service (5 out of 5), Research (4.5 out of 5), and Commissions and Fees (3.5 out of 5).
  • Industry Award: No. 1 in Banking Services.


Corporate Insight Monitor Awards
The Corporate Insight Monitor Awards, recognizing financial service firms for excellence in the online and offline user experience, acknowledged Merrill Edge with a total of seven awards for 2013. This marked improvement in four categories and resulted in recognition in seven out of nine total evaluation categories, including:

  • Silver Award: Education Centers, Trade Tickets.
  • Bronze Award: Account Info, News and Research, Product Range, Quotes, and Tools and Calculators.


Investor's Business Daily
Investor's Business Daily newspaperrecently featured Merrill Edge in its special report on the best online brokers of 2013, and their survey of 10,000 investors ranked Merrill Edge as one of the top five brokerages in the low commissions and fees category.

Customer Service Institute of America
Merrill Edge achieved high honors from the Customer Service Institute of America for 2013, earning a "Highly Commended" designation in the Contact Center category. Merrill Edge narrowly missed winning the institute's top honor, by only one-half of a point. In addition, Merrill Edge executive David Poole was named "Customer Service Leader of the Year." Competitors are evaluated on the 25 attributes of the international customer service standard and must meet initial assessment criteria to qualify for an onsite visit. Merrill Edge earned the following distinctions for customer service performance:

  • Highly Commended: Contact Center.
  • Customer Service Leader of the Year:David Poole.

Merrill Edge
Merrill Edge enables clients to seamlessly manage their Merrill Edge investment accounts and Bank of America bank accounts via its online platform, phone capabilities and branch offices. Clients have the choice to manage their money on their own via an online, self-directed investment account. As an alternative to an online investing account, clients can open a type of account that enables them to receive investment guidance and specific recommendations from a licensed Financial Solutions Advisor by phone or in select banking centers.

Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 50 million consumer and small business relationships with approximately 5,100 retail banking offices and approximately 16,300 ATMs and award-winning online banking with 30 million active users and more than 14 million mobile users. Bank of America is among the world's leading wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations in more than 40 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Banking products are provided by Bank of America, N.A., and affiliated banks, Members FDIC and wholly owned subsidiaries of Bank of America Corporation.

Merrill Edge® is available through Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (MLPF&S), and consists of the Merrill Edge Advisory Center (investment guidance) and self-directed online investing.

MLPF&S is a registered broker-dealer, Member SIPC and wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation.

Investment products:

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Reporters May Contact:
Kristen Georgian, Bank of America, 1.617.434.0234
kristen.e.georgian@bankofamerica.com

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