WEX
WEX Inc.
stock NYSE

DMA is not a marketing gimmick unless they are lying about it. More importantly, platforms offering DMA don't connect to retail brokers except for IB, since IB is primarily an institutional broker that happens to offer retail accounts. In fact, the entire idea of DMA is to literally bypass the broker.

What some retail brokerages do is they say "Routing" in substitution for the real thing. Thus, you have what appears to be DMA but it isn't. If you can't post actual bids or offers on the order book, where you can SEE your orders, then you don't have DMA. On a true DMA platform like Lightspeed, Sterling Pro, Takion, WEX, and Trader Workstation (if you have the correct kind of account with IB), you can actually send orders directly to the ECNs and also to dark pools. These platforms are the most accessible to the average person, but there are many other places to get direct access depending on how much money you have and whether you are an individual or an organization.

You can't see posted orders in a dark pool (which is why it's called a DARK pool), but you will see them on other ECNs. So on a true DMA platform, you can be the bid or the ask, and it does make a huge difference if you are an active day trader. By active, I mean you trade hundreds of options contracts or 10s of thousands of shares per day (which isn't actually really active but for retail it is). For options, it makes a difference if the bid/ask spread is wider than a few cents, even if you trade lower volume. If you make or lose thousands of dollars per month at minimum on your account, then DMA will likely make a difference in your outcomes in your favor because it will narrow your losses through more favorable fills.
This topic is often misunderstood because a lot of people haven't traded professionally and have no idea what the difference is, so your question makes sense. But of course it's 6 years later and I'm sure you learned this already, but for the benefits of others, here's a breakdown:
[https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/directmarketaccess.asp](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/directmarketaccess.asp)

DMA is not a marketing gimmick unless they are lying about it. More importantly, platforms offering DMA don't connect to retail brokers except for IB, since IB is primarily an institutional broker that happens to offer retail accounts. In fact, the entire idea of DMA is to literally bypass the broker.

What some retail brokerages do is they say "Routing" in substitution for the real thing. Thus, you have what appears to be DMA but it isn't. If you can't post actual bids or offers on the order book, where you can SEE your orders, then you don't have DMA. On a true DMA platform like Lightspeed, Sterling Pro, Takion, WEX, and Trader Workstation (if you have the correct kind of account with IB), you can actually send orders directly to the ECNs and also to dark pools. These platforms are the most accessible to the average person, but there are many other places to get direct access depending on how much money you have and whether you are an individual or an organization.

You can't see posted orders in a dark pool (which is why it's called a DARK pool), but you will see them on other ECNs. So on a true DMA platform, you can be the bid or the ask, and it does make a huge difference if you are an active day trader. By active, I mean you trade hundreds of options contracts or 10s of thousands of shares per day (which isn't actually really active but for retail it is). For options, it makes a difference if the bid/ask spread is wider than a few cents, even if you trade lower volume. If you make or lose thousands of dollars per month at minimum on your account, then DMA will likely make a difference in your outcomes in your favor because it will narrow your losses through more favorable fills.
This topic is often misunderstood because a lot of people haven't traded professionally and have no idea what the difference is, so your question makes sense. But of course it's 6 years later and I'm sure you learned this already, but for the benefits of others, here's a breakdown:
[https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/directmarketaccess.asp](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/directmarketaccess.asp)