While Public does not charge a fee for holding a Brokerage account, there may be other fees that apply to your account.
Public does not participate in payment for order flow or PFOF for equities trades, including stocks and ETFs. We decided that our customers would be best served if we did not accept PFOF, which would get them very good execution prices and also avoid the conflicts of interest that are inherent in payment for order flow.
By contrast, we do accept PFOF for stock & ETF options trades because the market is a bit different. Here, we decided that the best outcome for our customers would be to route to market makers and share the resulting PFOF with the customer, which aligns with our interests and also results in better prices for our customers.
When you submit an order to buy or sell cryptocurrency using the Public app, that order is sent to Bakkt Crypto Solutions LLC (formerly Apex Crypto, now known as Bakkt Crypto) for execution. When the trade executes, a transparent fee is charged. After the cryptocurrency has been purchased, Bakkt Crypto holds your cryptocurrency. For information on crypto trades, please see our crypto fee table.
We want to make sure our customers fully understand what services Public offers - and what they cost. For a complete view of our fee schedule, click here.
When could I be charged a fee?
For a complete view of our fee schedule, click here. If you ever have questions, the team is always here for you, so feel free to give us a shout on the app’s Chat or via email at support@public.com.
How will I be notified?
Public will do it’s best to notify you of a fee charge, however, in the event you do not receive a notification, you can also see any fees charged directly in your Apex account. You can also contact Member Support via in-app chat or email at support@public.com if you have any questions regarding a fee charge. We know that financial services fees can be a little tricky, so for most fees, we’ll typically cover the costs the first time around.*
You can see a complete view of all of your fees directly on the Apex website. You can learn more about accessing and viewing your Apex account here.
What happens if I don’t have enough cash in my account to cover the fee?
If we have reached out to notify you about the fee, we will first try to deduct the fees from any withdrawable cash you have in your account. Unfortunately, if you do not have enough cash to cover the fees, the fees may cause a negative balance in your account.
What happens if I have a negative balance on my account?
If you see a negative balance, it’s critical to cover the unpaid balance right away by making a new deposit into your brokerage account. If you do not deposit funds, we may have to sell some of your positions to cover the balance.
What should I do if I have questions about a fee?
If you have any questions about fees, please reach out to your Member Support team, using the app’s Chat or by emailing support@public.com.
*Please note that this does not include Regulatory Trading Fees or Crypto transaction markup. These fees are outside of Public’s control, and do not follow the same processes.