When TradeKing met Zecco, and the two online brokerages merged last year, the big question was whether or not the whole would be more than merely the sum of its parts.

Based on a review of where the “new” TradeKing stands at the beginning of 2013, the answer seems to be an ever-less-qualified “yes.”

The combined entity now boasts more than 500,000 total accounts, making TradeKing the sixth largest online brokerage. And once known primarily for its “disruptive” approach to the industry due to its low and transparent pricing strategy, TradeKing now has the opportunity to impress a whole new cohort of traders and investors with its customer service and investor education resources, as well.

Here’s a look at what TradeKing has accomplished as of the end of 2012:

• Earned a four-star ranking for six years in a row in Barron’s Online Broker Survey
• Voted #1 for customer service for the fourth time in the SmartMoney annual broker survey
• The number of daily users of TradeKing LIVE has doubled since the Zecco acquisition
• More than 49% of TradeKing’s registered representatives have FINRA Series 4 licenses
• More than 50% of TradeKing’s registered reps have Series 24 licenses
• TradeKing has hosted more than 60 live educational events for accountholders, with more than 8,000 total attendees

To that last point, TradeKing clients have watched more than 280 of the brokerage’s educational videos for more than 15,000 hours of watching and more than 57,000 total views.

TradeKing also announced that its trading platform now includes streaming charts, enhanced options functionality (including strategy recognition) and real-time, intraday updates. The company has also unveiled TradeKing Forex, which allows clients to trade more than 50 currency pairs, plus gold and silver, as well as provides access to charting tools, trader education, and actionable research.

Both TradeKing and Zecco made their Finvoate debuts back in 2008 at FinovateSpring.