Scottrade’s new social networking community builds customer knowledge, relationships

Launch of social networking platform allows Scottrade customers to share ideas, strategies and tools through discussion groups, blogs and videos

ST. LOUIS.– Scottrade (www.scottrade.com), a leading branch-supported online investment firm, today announced that it has launched an online social networking community to empower customers to communicate directly with each other via a password-protected Web site. The site is available to all Scottrade customers.

In the Scottrade Online Community, customers can:

• Interact directly through discussion groups and blogs with other Scottrade investors and traders, providing a unique opportunity for peer-to-peer education.

• Share customized ScottradeELITE® layouts and Trade-Ideas™ filters as well as other files, ideas, strategies, tips, articles, layouts, filters and spreadsheets, giving Scottrade customers a new resource in making more informed trading decisions.

• Provide feedback directly to Scottrade product specialists who develop and manage the trading tools, products and platforms used by Scottrade customers, allowing Scottrade customers to have a true voice in their own trading experience.

• Learn from blogs written by Scottrade platform managers and experts. A library of educational podcasts on Scottrade products and services provides another way to learn.

“Scottrade’s Online Community is a complement to our offline education efforts and further solidifies our commitment to educating our customers so they can make better-informed investment decisions,” said Kevin Dodson, Scottrade’s Director of Online Financial Services.

Scottrade’s Online Community launched quietly in April to select customers and is now open to all Scottrade customers. The Community is part of the firm’s overall strategy of providing more investment information and resources to its customers so they can be more successful investors and traders.

“Today’s investors and traders thrive on information. Scottrade’s Online Community is a whole new way for our customers to get information,” said Kristin McDougall, Customer Education Manager at Scottrade. “Best of all, the information is coming from people who are just like them. Our customers find that very meaningful.”

“Being connected with a friendly Community like Scottrade’s has been very refreshing,” said Wendy, a Scottrade customer and Online Community member who goes by “mrscashflow” online, and also uses Scottrade’s El Segundo, Calif. office. “I found Scottrade’s Community to be a very inviting place to hang out and it’s easy to get around the neighborhood. It is a friendly group of people that are serious about making money in the stock market.”

Scottrade offers customers free educational opportunities through several channels, including the online brokerage industry’s largest branch network, User Summits and articles and information on Scottrade.com and its trading platforms. User Summits are one-day seminars that bring Scottrade experts into the communities where Scottrade customers live and offer the chance for traders to network and learn about the firm’s trading tools and platforms.

Scottrade selected Small World Labs, an Austin, Texas-based provider of enterprise social media solutions, to build the Online Community. The company worked closely with Scottrade’s Customer Education department to tailor the Community for Scottrade’s customers.

Scottrade customers interested in joining the community can do so at http://community.scottrade.com. A podcast about the Community is also available.