If you want to learn about Lime Financial and its goals, then you should know who founded this fintech company/brokerage firm. According to Lime, its founders consist of hedge fund traders who were unable to find a broker that could meet their needs for “speed,” “volume,” and “privacy.” So, they decided to fill this niche in the market and found Lime.
Lime Financial has been around for two decades, and it is currently expanding to independent traders who want quality, low-latency execution. In addition to low-latency equity trading, you also get direct market access (DMA), transparent pricing, and responsive customer support. Read through this review to see this broker’s highlights and features.
Lime Financial Pros and Cons
Pros
- $0 Commission on U.S. Stocks & ETFs
- High-Tech, Hedge-Fund Level Software
- Low-Latency Trading Platform
- Excellent For Active, High-Frequency Traders And Long-Term Investors
Cons
- No 3rd Party Research
Who Is Lime Financial Recommended For?
After reviewing what customers have had to say about Lime Financial and what the company itself has to offer, Lime is best for high-frequency, high-volume traders who are experienced in the industry. Lime’s technology is advanced and at hedge-fund level, and the broker has suites for experienced traders (retail, professional, and institutional). Lime’s low-latency platform is its main highlight, so traders in search of that particular feature should check this broker out. According to this broker, its technology, in 2021:ad zero outages
- Processed more than ten billion messages
- Executed more than twenty billion shares
Though there are not a lot of educational materials, it would be inaccurate to say that Lime does not offer any. There is a “Learn” section on Lime’s website that consists of articles, videos, and a newsletter. The articles and videos cover trading strategies, as well as general inquiries about broker reliability and legal rules.
Regulated By
- U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (United States)
- Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (United States)
- National Futures Association (United States)
- Securities Investor Protection Corporation (United States)
Top Lime Financial Features
- Low-Latency Execution. Though this was mentioned above, it deserves another highlight because it is so important to this platform. If you’ve ever missed a trading opportunity because of slow execution, then you will like this broker, its platform is dedicated to the fastest execution possible.
- Glitch-Free. Lime Financial has an entire list of partners who help support their technology needs. These partners include NYSE National, iex, Nasdaq, Nasdaq BX, Bats, CBOE Bats-y, CBOE Bats-z, Sterling Trading Tech, PICO Corvil Analytics, RCM-X, InfoReach, and more.
- Agency Broker. Lime considers itself “unconflicted,” as it is an agency broker who aims to fulfill your trading needs as quickly as possible. This broker does not operate a dark pool, have proprietary trading, nor internalize trades. It doesn’t trade in-house, and its algorithm is unbiased, which will help you find the best price.
- Direct Market Access. DMA is a must-have for traders who want a lot of freedom, as Direct Market Access ensures orders go straight to the venue of your choosing. Lime clients can trade anonymously across dark/lit venues using this broker’s DMA gateway.
- High-Tech Platforms. In addition to being lag-free, Lime’s platforms are also high-tech. It has Lime Trader, a fast-reliable, flagship platform, Lime Pro, which is screen-based, and MetaTrader 5. You can trade $0 commissions and no subscription fees with MT5.
- Lime Direct. With this platform, you can plug into exchanges with Lime’s API, incurring less up-front development requirements and more speed. Lime Direct is a binary solution that gives you DMA, as well as low latency, flexible order routing, and several connectivity options.
- Wide Range of Asset Classes. We will cover each of these classes more in the “Pricing” section. For now, you should know that Lime offers several different classes of instruments to its clients, including equity, options, multi-leg options, futures, and IPOs.
Lime Financial Overview
- Type of Broker Agency-Only Broker
- Regulation & Licensing U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (United States), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (United States), National Futures Association (United States), Securities Investor Protection Corporation (United States)
- Clients Accepted from 244 Countries, Except Those On The Blocked List
- Assets Offered Equities, Options, Multi-Leg Options, Futures, IPO
- Platforms Available Web, Download, Mobile
- Mobile Compatibility iOS, Android
- Payment Types Accepted ACH, Wire, Account Transfer (No 3rd Party Transfers)
Lime Financial Account Types
|
Lime Account |
|
|
Features |
Access to Hedge-Fund Grade Technology and Advanced Platforms |
|
Account Currencies |
USD |
|
Available Leverage |
Varies |
|
Minimum Deposit |
$1,000 |
|
Commission Per Trade |
|
|
Decimal Pricing |
Up to 5 |
|
Trading Instruments |
Equities, Options, Multi-Leg Options, Futures, IPO |
|
Min. Lot Size Per Trade |
0.01 |
|
Spreads |
N/A |
|
Demo Account |
Yes |
|
Swap/Rollover Free |
No |
|
Copy Trading Support |
No |
Trading Platforms
- Lime Direct
- Lime Trader
- Lime Pro (Sterling Trader)
- MetaTrader 5
- Lime Connect
Trading and Investment Tools
- One Click Trading Yes
- Trade off Charts Yes
- Email Alerts Yes
- Mobile Alerts Yes
- Stop Order Yes
- Market Order Yes
- Trailing Stop Order Yes
- OCO Orders Yes
- Limit Order Yes
- 24hr Trading Yes
- Charting Package Yes
- Streaming News Feed Yes
Lime Financial Compliance & Regulation
Lime is regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (United States), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (United States), National Futures Association (United States), and Securities Investor Protection Corporation (United States).
Fees & Commissions
- Rollover Fee Depends on Asset
- Margin Interest Depends on Asset
Lime Financial Pricing
Lime offers several different asset classes to its traders, including equity, options, multi-leg options, futures, and IPOs. Here is a brief overview of each below:
- Equity. You can access equity markets with Lime Trader and MetaTrader 5 Platforms, a platform that has fully customizable charts, no-commission pricing, a mobile app, and access to many different types of U.S. securities (stocks, ETFs, and ADRs).
- Options. You can open and fund a Lime Trader account with five different options levels. These levels include everything from covered call writing (Level 1) to covered call writing, buying puts and calls, writing equity puts, and writing uncovered equity calls (Level 5).
- Multi-Leg Options. When you place a multi-leg option on Lime Trader, you can execute up to four different legs, so you can set your net price for the whole strategy at once.
- Futures/Futures Options. These assets include metals, energies, agricultural commodities, currencies, indices, interest rates, and soft commodities.
- IPOs. When you connect to Lime Trader’s ClickIPO, you can find IPO investments and place conditional orders.
There are three different pricing plans with Lime, and you can find the full rundown at https://lime.co/pricing/. The plans include:
- $0 Commission and Premium. This is available through Lime Trader and Meta Trader 5, and it does not include OTCBB, Pink Sheets, options, or extended hours trading.
- Per-Trade Plan. Commission for stocks, with this plan, are as low as $2.50 per trade. Options are as low as $0.50 per contract.
- Sterling Trader Pro Plan. This plan applies to traders who are using Sterling Trader Pro, and all applicable fees (platform, API, market data, etc.) are billed your account.
Service Details
- Supported Languages English
- Customer Service By Lime Financial
- Customer Service Hours 24/7 (To Submit Inquiries)
- Email Response Time Within 24-48 Hours
- Telephone Orders Yes
- Personal Account Manager Yes
Lime Financial Reliability & Security
Lime prides itself on its security and reliability, and its DMA Gateways are VPN, FIX, and API (written in Python, C++, and Java). According to this firm, it has secure colocation and hosting at “major data centers,” and its customized smart order routers and algorithms ensure fast trading. Lime’s entire brand is based on its reliability and glitch-free technology, so you know security and ease of use are going to be two of its biggest focuses.
Lime Financial User Experience
The goals behind Lime were to boost user experience and provide customers with low-latency trading, so that bodes well for traders who are looking to have a glitch-free trading experience.
Final Thoughts on Lime Financial
Lime is a high-tech, advanced, agency-only broker that pride itself on offering low-latency, high-speed trading to its clients. If you are an advanced, high-frequency trader or long-term investor who is very active in the market, this broker could be a good choice for you.
Contact Info
One Penn Plaza, 16th Floor New York, NY 10119
Lime Financial FAQs
Q: What type of account can Lime clients open?
A: This broker offers various different account types to its clients, including individual, joint, custodial, IRA (traditional, Roth, rollover, and SEP), corporate, LLC, partnership sole proprietorship, and trust accounts.
Q: What are Lime’s funding restrictions?
A: Lime has a limited number of ways in which you can fund your account. Domestic accounts can use wire, account, or ACH transfer, and foreign accounts can use only wire or account transfer. There are no third-party transfers allowed, and funding must be going out to an account or originate from an account with a matching title.
Q: How do I open a Lime account?
A: You can start the process at https://open.lime.co/register.