The Boston Equities Exchange, Philadelphia Stock Exchange and Chicago Stock Exchange, all about to debut brand-new high-tech trading platforms, are falling over each other in a race to lure customers. All three plan to offer aggressive volume rebates for liquidity providers in an effort to compete with the Nasdaq Stock Market and the New York Stock Exchange.

Rebates attract customers who are willing to place limit orders on the books and keep them there until a contra appears. This creates long-term liquidity, which is necessary for newcomers. The BeX is planning to charge 28 cents per 100 shares for NYSE- and Nasdaq-listed orders that execute against its books, in line with the big exchanges. But the rebates are juicier: 25 cents for Nasdaq-listed orders and 23 cents on NYSE-listed stocks. Moreover, unlike NYSE and Nasdaq, there are no minimums.

David Herron, CHX chief executive, declined to specify his pricing, but said it would be competitive. Meyer "Sandy" Frucher, chairman and ceo of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, simply threw down the gauntlet. "We won't be beaten on price," he said.

Some traders, though happy with the outcome, are skeptical whether the new pricing schedules will actually make the new platforms stand out. Some 33 new trading systems are fighting for scraps left over from a bigger battle for order flow between the NYSE and the Nasdaq.

NYSE holds about 70% market share in NYSE-listed stocks, while rival Nasdaq is growing its market share and already has 12.5% under its belt. That leaves the rivals just 17.5% to fight over. In Nasdaq-listed stocks, there's even less volume left to snatch. Nasdaq executes over 70% of volume in its listings, while the NYSE and NYSE Arca have a hold over 22% of Nasdaq-listed stocks.

That said, the regionals have an advantage over ATSs in that they can offer market data revenue sharing. The exchanges collect millions of dollars in market data fees, and can by law rebate the cash back to its biggest customers. Marybeth Shea, head of sales and marketing for BEX' parent Boston Stock Exchange, said the exchange plans to strike attractive revenue sharing deals with the brokerages trading there, and traders expect the others to follow suit. "The regionals will be very lean and very aggressive. It's not about revenue; it's about survival," said Sang Lee, founder of consultancy Aite Group.