I opened an account at Scottsdale Securities in 1996, now known as Scottrade. I still have their pre-internet brocure with commission schedule to this day. For 100 shares of a $10 stock: Scottsdale 32 Schwab 47 Fidelity 47 Quick & Reilly 38 Waterhouse 35 Merrill Lynch 50 Moving up the scale to 1000 shares of a $30 stock: Scottsdale 72 Schwab 166 Fidelity 166 Quick & Reilly 128 Waterhouse 139 Merrill Lynch 483 The brocure was advertising three different types of accounts and the savings for each, a Transfer and Ship Account, a Safekeeping Account and then there was a Supersaver Account. The Supersaver Account had to be opened with a $25K minimum and remain above $20K. You had to have buying power on deposit before you could place a trade. It may seem odd to mention that in this day and age, but back then you would normally place your order by telephone and you sent the check for the amount in the mail. Anyway, the commission formula for a Supersave account was $50 + 2.5 cents for each share over 1000 shares.
A little more historical trivia - The very first time I see internet trading mentioned for Scottsdale is on my April 1997 statement in a message that says, "SCOTTSDALE NOW OFFERS EVEN MORE SAVINGS ON INTERNET AND TOUCH TONE TRADING ASK YOUR BROKER FOR DETAILS!" I don't remember when I placed my first internet trade, it's in my diary somewhere.