Building off the events of earlier this year and the call for more transparency in our industry, Public.com has ended its participation in Payment for Order Flow and introduced an optional tipping feature as of February 17th, 2021. With the help of our clearing firm, Apex Clearing, we route US-listed registered security orders directly to exchanges and market centers to try to get you the best price on an order-by-order basis—in turn, taking the conflict of interest out of our business model. This decision better aligns our incentives with the interests of our community.
How does tipping work?
Before you submit an order, you'll be given the opportunity to tip. At the bottom of the screen, you will see a checkbox. If you choose to tip, you will leave the check box checked and then click submit. The tip amount will be deducted from your buying power and will be returned to buying power if the order is canceled, rejected, or reversed. If you decide you do not want to tip, you will just uncheck that box and then click submit.
Is tipping required?
Nope! And tipping won't change anything about how your order is executed.
Can I change my tip amount?
No. The tip amount shown cannot be adjusted,
Is tipping considered a commission or sales charge for cost-basis reporting?
Tips are added to the cost or proceeds of the trade and adjust the cost basis based on the value of the tip. Since tips are added at the time of placing and executing the trade, they will also be reflected in your official trade confirmation.
Why did you launch tipping?
The short version: because we think it's a better, more transparent, more aligned way to make money (than payment for order flow, which we've stopped accepting). Read more about that here.
Can I tip on crypto transactions on Public?
There is not an option to add a tip to crypto trades at this time.
Tipping Terms & Conditions
● Tipping Overview
○ Before you submit an order (to buy or sell a security), you may be prompted to leave a tip for Public.
○ Leaving a tip for Public is fully optional.
○ Your decision to tip or not to tip does not impact your order routing, execution, or any other aspect of the order.
● Tipping Mechanics
○ If you leave a tip, the tip is immediately deducted from your buying power and is held in your account as a “pending tip.”
○ Pending tips are visible in your account detail and will be deducted from your account on a regular basis, at which point they will be removed from the account detail and will appear in your tipping history.
○ If there’s sufficient buying power to execute your order but not to fulfill the tip amount, we will still execute your order. We will take the tip only to the amount of available buying power.
● Tips as an Optional Service Charge
○ Tips do not constitute a commission for trading.
○ Tips do not constitute a gift to any person, principal, proprietor, employee, agent, or representative of another person.
○ Tips appear on your trade confirmation as an “additional fee” associated with the trade.
All tipping terms and conditions are subject to change without notice.