Banks are notoriously tight and thorough in their evaluations of candidates. You wont get far walking in with a retail account.
Posters keep claiming that... and banks are not the only possibility. Besides, anyone running OPM has a fiduciary responsibility to its customers/investors. You need to PROVE you deserve a chance... and the institution shares the risk at least in reputation. So what do you expect... you turn $1,000 into $2,000 in 3 years and you want an institution to had you $Millions of customer funds to run? Ha! But if you're not on Wall Street, didn't go to Wharton, and live in a one-horse town... what do you use to make a name for yourself? Your personal retail account is about all you have to demonstrate ability. Once your performance is long and strong enough, you'll be accepted. (I know from which I speak.)
The one-horse town is Denver. But now that they've widened I-25, I guess you could think of us as a two-horse town.
This horse looks ready for BACKTESTING which is another hocus pocus way of deluding newbies from real-world trading by sending over-zealous fresh grads in circles doing rubbish systems-testing.