Broker Details
Minimum Trade Size: | 0.25 |
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Maximum Leverage: | 40:1 |
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Minimum to Open Live: | $25,000 |
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Established: | 1978 |
Address: | One Pickwick Plaza, Greenwich, CT 06830, United States |
Contact: | Unknown |
Regional offices: | |
Regulators: | ASIC #AFSL: 453554, IIROC #, SFC #, SEBI #INZ000217730, CSSF #, FCA #208159, FINRA #, SEC # |
Prohibited countries: | Unknown |
Trading platforms: | TWS |
Web Trading: | Unknown |
Mobile Trading: | Unknown |
Currencies: | (20+) |
Cryptocurrencies: | |
CFD: | (4890+) Gold, Silver, Stocks, Stock Indexes, Bonds, Oil, Other Commodities |
Deposit Methods: | Bank Wire, ACH (Automated Clearing House), BPAY, Check, Direct Debit, Local Bank Deposits, Transfer from Existing Broker |
Withdrawal Methods: | Bank Wire, ACH (Automated Clearing House), BACS (Bankers' Automated Clearing Services), Check, Direct Debit, EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer), GIRO (General Interbank Recurring Order), SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) |
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Traders Reviews
Is this a wronful closing of my positions?
Service use: Live
Length of use: over 1 Year
I had some short call options which was reflected as expired on their platform on 18 dec. And the stock closed below my option price (I have these in black and white), but still I found myself being assigned the position, resulting in loss for me as the stock gap up on Monday.
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This is their reply:
A short call position in your account is subject to assignment should a call purchaser elect to exercise their right to purchase the stock and your account be allocated through the random clearinghouse and broker assignment process. This call assignment will generate a short stock position in your account (assuming you do not have an offsetting long position).
The processing of exercise notices for American style options on days other than the expiration date is not performed on a real-time basis, but rather as part of a nightly batch process by the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). The processing sequence, which by definition results in a notification lag of at least one day to the assigned client, is as follows:
OCC generally allows its clearing members to submit exercise notices on behalf of the clients holding a long position electronically throughout the day, but generally no later than the start of their critical processing in the evening (Day E).
As part of its evening position processing sequence, OCC randomly assigns the exercise notices it has received to the open interest of its clearing members. That information is then made available by OCC to its clearing members early in the morning on the following day (Day E+1).
At the point in which that information has been made available, clearing firms such as IBKR have already completed their processing of that day’s trade activity in order to provide timely statements, margin and settlement information to their clients. Also, since OCC carries the client positions of its clearing members in an omnibus manner (i.e., they do not know the identity of the clients, only the clearing firm), the clearing member must, in turn, execute a random process to assign those exercise notices to clients holding a short position in that particular option series.
Once IBKR receives notice of the assignment from OCC and completes its random assignment process, the assignments will be readily posted to the Trader Workstation of the impacted accounts and reflected on the Daily Activity Statement as of that day’s close (E+1).
Account holders should refer to the Characteristics & Risks of Standardized Options disclosure available on the OCC website, which is provided by IBKR to every option eligible client at the point of application and which clearly spells out the risks of assignment.
https://www.theocc.com/Company-Information/Documents-and-Archives/Options-Disclosure-Document
Do I have a case against them? What can I do? Anyone
They do not allow you to withdraw money.
Service use: Live
Length of use: 0-3 Months
T603460 - ticket number on which I attached documents.
U4664748 - my account number.
Rejected deposit not refunded
Service use: Live
Length of use: 0-3 Months
I have yet to receive my fund back after weeks, because InteractiveBrokers had registered an invalid fax number with my bank, and it is also using an incorrect fax number to communicate with the bank.
The customer service is a disaster: constant interruptions, poor communication, and refusal to listen.
Worst customer service ever
Service use: Live
Length of use: 0-3 Months
The support section has a place where I have filled several tickets which have never get answered.
It has a chat section where they put you in hold for hours waiting for a support representative.
I had the patience to wait three days ago for help using the chat but the person who attended me told me to search in their web for answers. I really could not believe it.
I have worked with several brokers and this is by far the worst experience in customer care.
Service use: Live
Length of use: 0-3 Months
Yesterday $3000 was Transferred from my Bank account to interactive brokers. Sensed Reg Flags, since I did not transfer the money myself only linked my bank account.
I Tried logging into interactive brokers account that was waiting to be approved but now its says my application has been deleted. Tried logging from my desktop but my user account is not allowed for paper trading either. I don't even know what's worse looking all over to how I can contacting you or you stealing my money from my back account and blocking me from an account you haven't even approved.
In my opinion, it's okay if I am not approved but it is not okay for interactive brokers to take money from my account without my permission. Writing to request my money back before I report this as fraud.
You shouldn't take potential clients money if you have no intention of providing the service.
When I applied for an account I thought interactive brokers was a reputable company. Apparently, interactive brokers is a scam. I feel Scammed and taken advantage of. Seems like you tricking people to link their bank accounts, take their money without even them deciding if they really want to do business with you. You have the right to approve me and as a client I have the final right to decide if I want to do business with you by finally transferring my money into my account. I linked my bank and you went ahead and transferred $3000 of my money without my permission.
I never got even an email confirming my account had been approved yet you took my money from my account to which i cannot even access. That's wrong.
Need my money back or hear from someone about this issue. I wonder how many people I treated like this and people don't even know it. I have all the supporting documents and the bank account to prove what you are doing is wrong.
I have already been approved somewhere, they didn't take my money first. I applied, they approved me, I linked my account and transferred as much money as I wanted. What you, Interactive Brokers are doing is wrong.
Combative, Lethargic, Obstinate CS and Broken systems
Service use: Live
Length of use: over 1 Year
On top of the bad CS, their systems break - web account mgmt interface is awful - parts of it don't work or hang up. Chat never works - nobody every shows up.
You would be reasonable to ask "Why then do you use them?" In the early days I found their trading platform to be superior to the competition - and so I put up with the other significant negatives. Now, they can't even get TWS right - they keep fooling with it, breaking formerly-working features. Even the trading platform is now a negative.
Don't go there.
DO NOT USE THIS BROKER, EVER
Service use: Live
Length of use: over 1 Year
here is the link if someone need it.
https://firms.di.finra.org/cdip-dynoapp/anon/accessForm;jsessionid=FE33BC89DF13D6BF821D4115398388A3?requestInstanceId=4591699
I hope this is helpful to anyone with IB issues out there.
stay safe.
DON'T SIGN UP WITH THEM
Service use: Live
Length of use: 3-6 Months
Charge you fees after reading there is not any fees.
Service use: Live
Length of use: over 1 Year
Wouldn't suggest this broker to my worst enemy.
Service use: Live
Length of use: 0-3 Months
Dealing with Interactive Brokers
Service use: Live
Length of use: over 1 Year
AVOID INTERACTIVE BROKERS! See my points listed. Poor, frustrating broker!
Service use: Live
Length of use: over 1 Year
So you can just trust me or read my highlights [lowlights] of all the terrible parts that make up the whole of the mess that is IB.
NB: I only needed to trade Australian and US equities (wanted to do bonds but never got around to it), and manage my cash. I was required to use them because of compliance requirements at my previous firm, but I have finally been able to escape the hell-hole that is IB due to a change of firm.
1. Their systems (both on app and web platform) are horrendous - security is so tight (cool sure, to a certain degree, but it's really overdone!!!) you have to log in multiple times, use a phone token etc etc and half the time it just logs you out anyway or crashes. Functionality goes down often, its not intuitive, things are really hard to find, its slow.
2. Sure they have a low cost-per-trade and other low fees/costs and you can trade bonds or whatever, but you pay for it in other ways. If you have less than AUD20k just sitting in your cash acct and aren't trading actively (also your money is not earning interest because why would IB ever actually do anything to help you), they charge you a monthly fee - at my current savings acct interest rate which is one of the best, if not the best rate in the market, it would take me nearly 4 months just to earn back the monthly fee I pay. If you withdraw cash more than once a month, boom you get a charge. Even when I was finally able to escape from them, BOOM AUD55 charge just so my new broker could do all the work processing the transfer, and IB sit back and collect AUD55. Then they mysteriously take another AUD16 out my account for no reason, before I can shut down my account. Even depositing money in is a two-step, slow, archiac nightmare.
They even once liquidated a portion of one of my share positions because my cash funds were running low (I didn't realise at this time THEY CHARGED YOU JUST FOR THE PRIVILEGE OF KEEPING YOUR CASH WITH THEM), which then got me in trouble with compliance because I didn't have pre-approval to sell the share - IB just went ahead and made the decision for me anyway and I got a trade confo after the fact!
3. Getting any sort of help from them is incredibly frustrating. Calling in - you are on hold for ages and the people are pretty much all useless and never do what you ask anyway, or you get transferred to someone else and they still can't help. If you chat with them online you get generic 'computer says no' answers or you get told to raise a web ticket, where you get another 'computer says no' answer and nothing really ever gets resolved properly (maybe half the time, in a semi-efficient manner?). Then when you finally get a response on a web ticket, they don't email you, oh no, nothing every gets sent right to your email, you have to log back into their rubbish app or platform and go to the stupid message inbox, by which time (most of the time) the system either breaks or you have to do YET ANOTHER LOG IN ! Wow.
I could go on but I think you get the picture. AVOID AVOID AVOID IB! Try someone else first. Or try IB first, waste your time and money, and then move to another broker :)
It will save you your sanity!
can't get them to wire my funds back to my bank account
Service use: Live
Length of use: 6-12 Months
Worst customer service ever.
Service use: Live
Length of use: over 1 Year
UNETHICAL FEES, DO NOT USE THEM
Service use: Live
Length of use: over 1 Year
Worst Broker Ever?
Maybe if they had focused on creating one single useful platform like a website OR an app, OR a desktop application they would have succeeded at one instead of royally screwing up all three. And "low cost" isn't an excuse - Robinhood works just fine and they don't chart any trading fees.
The only reason someone might want to use IB is if they desperately need to be able to trade stocks on foreign exchanges. I can't imagine any other reason to put yourself through the horror of it.
Do not do business with Interactive Brokers
CRAZY HIDDEN FEES!
Stay away...difficult to get a domestic wire out.
I lost all my hard earned money.
They developed an AI algorithm which tracks the small retail traders finds out their stop loss zone or their preset to hit the stop loss.
The moment you get stopped out, you can see level At level 2 and Tape the price will fly.
My expensive lesson learned: don’t get attracted by low commissions. This people are really high tech robbers.
They will rob your money. Stay away from Interactive Brokers,
2- Quotes are always delayed even if you subscribe to real-time market data. If you complain, they tell you bla. bla. bla. Instrument price is always 15 to 20 cents higher or lower than market price so they can move the spread against you.
3- Wherever your stop is placed, they go get it then the price goes back to the real market price.
4- They will charge accrued interests on forex trades for positions you have closed already.
5- The high and low of day / hr is always different from market by 15 or 20 cents.
6- Their Mosaic trading platform glitches and freeze.
7- Extremely poor customer service. Their representatives are well trained to give you no clear answer and put your call on hold for as long as you hang up.
Overall they will rob you out. You'll never make money with interactive brokers.
Sales Rep Blew the Sale
IB provides a loser environment for day trading
Simply horrible. You simply cannot make money with all these things stacked against you with trading with IB . . STAY AWAY FROM Interactive Brokers!!!
There are other costs beyond commissions
Good Solid Broker
I filed a complaint against IB and it was like a circus in the making. Some manager got on the phone, tried to recite the facts as he had received them from someone else, and these facts were 100% incorrect. They attempted to put the blame on me, saying I had placed the trade myself and it had nothing to do with anything that IB did or did not do. It was like talking to a bunch of idiots who could not tell anyone which way was up or which way was down; I could tell it was a scam in the making and all the complaining I did was to no avail. I immediately closed my account and have told as many people as possible about their practices and I will say it again. If you are looking for an honest, reliable brokerage, go look somewhere else. These guys are looking for excuses to scam their clients and do it in a way that they feel the client has no recourse but arbitration. The worst, most obscene excuse for a brokerage firm I have ever had the occasion of dealing with. I say, AVOID THESE CHARLATANS AT ALL COST, OR YOUR TRADING ACCOUNT WILL SUFFER!
I handed in my first application online two week ago, I've uploaded my bank statement, Canadian driver license whatever they asked.
Got first rejection saying that I have to upload my Canadian SIN card photo copy since I'm currently living in Canada.
OK, I uploaded my SIN card and received the 2nd rejection, saying since I had a Canadian SIN then I need to reopen a new application and fill in "Canada" in residence field.
So I opened a new application and attached the same bank statement I've using in previous application, got 3rd rejection saying that my bank statement is out of date, actually the bank statement was from last month and I guess they didn't even open it for review.
So I replied them that the bank statement was the latest one and tried to upload it again.
Now, I've got my 4th rejection saying that they want a debit card statement not the credit card statement!
Don't even bother to apply again, after reading so many interesting reviews, absolutely disappointing.
2010-03-08 2Star It is impossible to reach customer service after market hours. If you have any problems during the market hour, deal with it yourself, because you will not get any assistance from IB. The quickest way is chat, but I have watied for over 30 min. during market hours. If you get anyone on the phone, they are always so dipressed.
Your stops will receive the worst fills and the system will freeze when volatily pick up. It may seem convinint to trade all markets from one platform, but it is not woth it. This truly is the worst brokerage experience we ever had. Stay away!!!!!!!!!!
I transferred money in to fund a CTA account. The day of the transfer they upped their min account size for CTAs thus stopping me from trading. Nice of them to warn me or the CTA himself.
No amount of reasoning from him (even though he brings lots of custom) would change their mind.
I therefore decided to transfer the money out to another broker.
It has taken me months and months to get the money (still haven't got it out).
The transfer was refused as they took 1/10th a cent out of my account saying it was an interest adjustment (I earned no interest on this account, nor should I have been charged anything - no positions were opened or closed).
I assume it was a rounding error in one of their systems.
So after weeks of trying to transfer the money, I transfered 1 cent less.
The transfer goes out but then gets lost as they didn't enter the correct account number.
The receiving bank returns the payment but IB can't locate it.
This is still ongoing.
No one seems to care and my complaints don't get answered.
They send vague messages on their internal message system, which is as bad as the rest of their site.
It's also a complete pain in the a** to login as they have a complicated security process that seems to expire and get confused etc. meaning I have a tough time logging in sometimes.
Overall a horrible experience and I'm yet to get my money back or be offered any apology or compensation.
Avoid like the plague.
It seems like you get what you pay for, and their very cheap costs are nullified by their poor performance.
Also, "customer service" at IB is an oxymoron.
Instead, when you call them, they attempt to sell you add-ons these you don't even need. Horrible experience. Much rather work with a real broker instead of these scammers. Buyer be aware.
Second, the Web Trader product is completely unreliable. I have witnessed it change terms of my order entry on its own. Further, the site constantly becomes unresponsive.
Third, the company recently adopted a policy of "preemptive liquidation". This means that even if you are in margin compliance, they might still liquidate you if they think you MAY not be in margine compliance the next day. This is bad. Worse, if you call Interactive Brokers and ask them which positions they are concerned about, or which positions may be liquidated, they can't tell you. IB engages in this practice even while claiming it cannot accurately predict future margin requirements. In fact, more times than not, in my personal experience, IB's pre-emptive liquidations have not only failed to reduce margin requirements, but actually served to INCREASE them.
Fourth, after putting up with this cr** for too long, i tried to transfer my assets to another broker. Interactive Brokers was not cooperative with this process.
There are a host of other reasons to not use Interactive Brokers, and i will add to them at a future time.
This is my first blog EVER. I have nothing to gain from writing it, but i do hope to prevent others from making the same mistake I did by signing up with this horror of a brokerage firm.
Service, it's hit or miss. I find the HK office quite good when I need to call but there are different levels of experience on their service desk. I rarely have to contact them though as things run very smoothly. Most important for me is that they are well capitalized and run a conservative business.
Due to instability of Interactive Brokers systems and incompetence of "Salvatore Recco", I lost lot of money. It would not have happened with a competent and professional broker. But Salvatore Recco(Head of Institutional Services Asia) was slow, not polite, unprofessional, giving lame excuses and possibly make big money on my back.
0/IB asia has no independent complaint officer(the CEO so wont bother to answer). If a senior IB staff is incompetent, you could not complain.No one is checking what they are doing in Asia, so manipulations of the records/transactions and wrong doing can be done by their staffs in Asia.
1/ zero transparency: you wont get any records ( transaction, transcripts,...). "Salvatore Recco" is blocking my access to any records because he made the mistakes.
2/ you will not be able to speak or see face to face, "Salvatore Recco"or a manager or a complaint officer in Hong Kong or Asia. They will just hide and send you a small potato guy.Thank to The small potato, I discovered that Salvatore Recco was lying and the staff might know his wrong doing.
3/ IB/Salvatore Recco will hide and refer you to a US complaint or any virtual manager in other continents.
4/ their methods in order that you give up your complaints, its their complaints tickets systems, it will take many months/ years instead of a day. They will tell you that they will get back to you within few days but instead give you lame excuses few month later. By that time all records could be modified by IB.
5/they have many others tricks so be careful, they can make you push to accept new rules at their favors when you later login,...
6/ they are not going to compensate you for their staffs mistakes for sure! Because They do not have any compensation fund aside in Asia !
On internet I find others complaints about "Salvatore Recco", if you have any problems with him or IB, please help me. I spend money on a lawyer and complaint SFC and regulator without any answer!!!
Help me because "Salvatore Recco" is blocking my complaint as he was the one involved and a head and possibly make a big money in my back!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the minimum deposit for Interactive Brokers?
There is no minimum deposit required by InteractiveBrokers for both IBRK LITE and IBRK PRO.
How much does Interactive Brokers charge per trade?
InteractiveBrokers charges a tiered commission based on the combined Monthly Trade Value of Spot Forex trades.
Commissions: 0.20 *0.0001 * Trade Value
Minimum per order: USD 0.20
Monthly Trade Value: USD 1,000,000,001 - 2,000,000,000
Commissions: 0.15 *0.0001 * Trade Value
Minimum per order: USD 0.15
Monthly Trade Value: USD 2,000,000,001 - 5,000,000,000
Commissions: 0.10 *0.0001 * Trade Value
Minimum per order: USD 0.125
Monthly Trade Value: USD > 5,000,000,000
Commissions: 0.08 *0.0001 * Trade Value
Minimum per order: USD 0.10
Does Interactive Brokers charge a dormant account fee (inactivity fee)?
Whether Interactive Brokers charges a monthly inactivity fee or not depends on the account type.
- IBKR Pro Accounts:
IBKR Pro accounts are subject to a monthly activity fee of USD 10 (USD 20 if the account balance is USD 2,000 or below).
If any fee, withdrawal, transfer or adverse market move reduces the account balance to USD 0, the account will be automatically closed.
- IBKR Lite Accounts:
IBKR Lite accounts, however, are not subject to a monthly minimum activity fee.
What is IBKR Lite in Interactive Brokers?
IBKR Lite is an IBKR pricing plan that boasts below features.
- Unlimited, commission-free trading in US listed stock and ETFs
- Access to global markets
- Trading via Client Portal, IBKR Mobile and Trader Workstation (TWS)
- No account minimums and no inactivity fees.
Who is eligible for Interactive Brokers' IBKR Lite?
The IBKR Lite is offered with some restrictions. See the explanations below.
- To direct US clients
- Any client of an Introducing Broker (not omnibus brokers)
- Direct accounts have to be natural person (i.e. cannot be Legal Entity, Org, etc.).
- For standalone trust accounts, all trustees/beneficiaries on the account must be natural persons.
- For trust accounts that are under an advisor, the trustees/beneficiaries may be legal entities.
Service use: Live
Length of use: 0-3 Months
Upon moving to IBKR, I immediately was stuck by how unfriendly the UI is. My watchlist view customizations wouldn't save, watchlist wouldn't sync across multiple platforms (desktop, to mobile) without taking extra steps to 'download' them. IBKR nickel and dimes you for data streaming, viewing real-time quotes, a basic free necessity on other platforms. At least 50% of the time, my portfolio data doesn't load and I have to refresh multiple times. Another annoying thing is you can only be logged into your account from one location.
Beware - if you use IBKR the account transfer from your old brokerage firm will be on hold for 30days. Something they didn't tell me after 3 rejected outbound account transfers. It takes 1,5 hours to get a hold of someone and even the reps are uninformed of their own polices. Avoid IBKR, you've been warned...