According to the report, which cites people familiar with the matter, Schwab will offer contracts via Cboe Global Markets that allow people to make wagers on the performance of the S&P 500, the popular equities index that tracks a basket of the largest publicly traded firms.
The markets will act similarly to asset price markets offered by prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, in which predictors are provided a binary choice about whether an asset will finish higher or lower than a given price.
The firm is also expected to offer a feature called the “Plus Zone,” which pays people based on how close the S&P 500 closes to the market number, paying out a discounted multiple even if they are “mostly right.”
Charles Schwab’s markets are due to roll out in the coming months and may eventually be offered against other indexes or key financial benchmarks, according to the report.
The firm, which has $11.8 trillion in total customer assets, also showed some interest in joining the growing stablecoin opportunity, with Wurster saying last July that it’s “something we do want to be able to offer.”
Shares of SCHW finished down nearly 3% on Thursday, changing hands around $91.70. U.S. markets are closed Friday for the Juneteenth holiday.
