American Express Revamps Online Brokerage.

American Express Co., the financial services firm that owns the signature green charge card, said Tuesday it will turn its flagging online brokerage into a new Web broker with lower commissions and free stock trades for wealthy clients later this autumn. The new unit, which is called American Express Brokerage, will charge customers $14.95 a trade for up to 3,000 shares per order. For customers with more than $25,000 in their accounts buy orders are free, and those with account balances over $100,000 will pay nothing to trade stocks. All customers will pay 3 cents a share for orders of more than 3,000 shares. American Express_ share price Tuesday gained 4-1/2, or 3.3 percent, to 142-1/16 in trading on the New York Stock exchange around noon. The shares Monday had gained 6-3/16, or 4.7 percent, to close at 137-9/16. The new unit will offer more mutual funds, customer service and financial planning tools than its existing Web brokerage, Financial Direct. Company officials declined to pinpoint an exact launch date for the new unit, which will be run by the Minneapolis-based American Express Financial Advisors division, other than saying this autumn. For customers with more than $100,000 in their accounts the free stock trades come with no strings attached, unlike the $1,500 annual full-service broker Merrill Lynch and Co. Inc. will charge customers for free online trades. The company hopes, though, that these clients will bring in fee income when they turn to American Express_ 9,300 financial planners for other advice, American Express executives said in a conference call.