Interactive Brokers one way: Forex.
To open a live account, you’ll need a minimum deposit of at least $10,000. Alternatively, Interactive Brokers offer a demo account that you can use to practice and familiarise yourself with their platform.
Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, UK (FRN: 208159 ). Interactive Brokers puts all client funds in a segregated bank account and uses tier-1 banks for this. Interactive Brokers have been established since 1977, and have a head office in United States.
Before we dive into some of the more detailed aspects of Interactive Brokers’s spreads, fees, platforms and trading features, you may want to open Interactive Brokers‘s website in a new tab by clicking the button below in order to see the latest information directly from Interactive Brokers.
Full disclosure: We may receive a commission if you sign up with a broker using one of our links.
Your capital is at risk.
PROS
- Segeregates client funds
- Established in 1977
- Regulated by Financial Conduct Authority
- Min. deposit from $10,000
CONS
- Doesn’t offer VPS ( See alternatives )
- Not CySEC Regulated ( See alternatives )
What are Interactive Brokers's spreads & fees?
Like most brokers, Interactive Brokers take a fee from the spread, which is the difference between the buy and sell price of an instrument.
The spreads displayed below are based on the minimum fixed spreads listed on Interactive Brokers’s website. The colour bars show how competitive Interactive Brokers’s spreads are in comparison to other popular brokers featured on BrokerNotes.
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EUR/USD
Not offered $0.00 per lotThe average spread for EUR/USD across all brokers on BrokerNotes is 0.82 pips. See popular brokers for trading EUR/USD
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USD/JPY
Not offered $0.00 per lotThe average spread for USD/JPY across all brokers on BrokerNotes is 0.91 pips. See popular brokers for trading USD/JPY
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GBP/USD
Not offered $0.00 per lotThe average spread for GBP/USD across all brokers on BrokerNotes is 1.18 pips. See popular brokers for trading GBP/USD
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Bitcoin
Not offeredThe average spread for Bitcoin across all brokers on BrokerNotes is 41.15 pips. See popular brokers for trading Bitcoin
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Gold
Not offeredThe average spread for gold across all brokers on BrokerNotes is 8.62 pips. See popular brokers for trading gold
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DAX30
Not offeredThe average spread for DAX30 across all brokers on BrokerNotes is 14.95 pips. See popular brokers for trading DAX30
Speads are dynamic and are for informational purposes only. Last updated: June 06, 2018.
As you can see, Interactive Brokers's
minimum spread for trading EUR/USD is pips - which is relatively low compared to average EUR/USD spread of 0.82 pips. Below is a breakdown of how much it would cost you to trade one lot of EUR/USD with Interactive Brokers vs. similar brokers.
How much does Interactive Brokers charge to trade 1 lot of EUR/USD?
If you were to buy one standard lot of EUR/USD (100k units) with Interactive Brokers at an exchange rate of 1.1719 and then sell it the next day at the same price you would likely pay $0. Here’s a rough breakdown of the fees and how this compares against Plus500 & AvaTrade.
| Interactive Brokers | Plus500 | AvaTrade | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spread from: | $0.00 | $6.00 | $7.00 |
| Typical overnight fee: | $0.00 | $9.40 | $5.00 |
| Commission: | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Total cost of a 100k trade: | $0 | $15.4 | $12 |
| $15.40 more | $12.00 more | ||
| Visit IB | Visit Plus500 | Visit AvaTrade |
Your capital is at risk. All fees/prices are for informational purposes and are subject to change. Last updated: 09/03/2018.
What can you trade with Interactive Brokers?
| FX / Currencies | IB | Plus500 | AvaTrade |
|---|---|---|---|
| # of forex pairs offered | 61 | 59 | |
| Major forex pairs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Minor forex pairs | Yes | Yes | |
| Exotic forex pairs | Yes | Yes | |
| Cryptocurrencies | No | Yes | Yes |
| Commodity CFDs | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 | AvaTrade |
|---|---|---|---|
| # of commodities offered | 17 | 16 | |
| Metals | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Energies | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Agricultural | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Indiced & Stock CFDs | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 | AvaTrade |
|---|---|---|---|
| # of Stocks offered | 1816 | 99 | |
| UK Shares | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| US Shares | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| German Shares | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Japanese Shares | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| See IB's Instruments | See Plus500's Instruments | See AvaTrade's Instruments |
What’s the Interactive Brokers trading experience like?
1) Platforms and apps
Interactive Brokers offer a user-friendly custom trading platform, available as both a downloadable program or as a broswer based WebTrader. If you are looking for a MetaTrader broker, see our comparison of MT4 brokers here
See IB's Platforms
Interactive Brokers also offer mobile apps for Android and iOS, making it easier to keep an eye on and execute your trades while you are on the move.
See IB's platforms Your capital is at risk.2) Executing Trades
Interactive Brokers do not have set minimum and maximum trade requirements. They may vary depending on the account, trader and the instrument. The maximum trade requirements vary depending on the trader and the instrument. As Interactive Brokers offer ECN and STP execution, you can expect very tight spreads with more transparency over the price you’re paying to execute your trades.
As a nice bonus, Interactive Brokers are one of very few brokers that claim to have no requotes, so you don’t have to worry about slippage (your trades being ordered at a different price to what you executed them at).
As with most brokers, margin requirements do vary depending on the trader, accounts and instruments, but as a guide, Interactive Brokers offer margin up to 1 on currencies.
Finally, we’ve listed some of the popular funding methods that Interactive Brokers offers its traders on the right.
3) Client support
Interactive Brokers support a wide range of languages including English, Francais, Deutsch, Espanol, Italiano, Ruskiyy, Mandarin, Cantonese, Nihongo
Interactive Brokers have a BrokerNotes triple AAA support rating because they offer a wide range of languages, live chat, phone and email support.
4) What you’ll need to open an account with Interactive Brokers
As Interactive Brokers is regulated by Financial Conduct Authority, every new client must pass a few basic compliance checks to ensure that you understand the risks of trading and are allowed to trade. When you open an account, you’ll likely be asked for the following, so it’s good to have these handy:
- A scanned colour copy of your passport, driving license or national ID
- A utility bill or bank statement from the past three months showing your address
You’ll also need to answer a few basic compliance questions to confirm how much trading experience you have, so it’s best to put aside at least 10 minutes or so to complete the account opening process.
While you might be able to explore Interactive Brokers’s platform straight away, it’s important to note that you won’t be able to make any trades until you pass compliance, which can take up to several days, depending on your situation.
To start the process of opening an account with Interactive Brokers you can visit their website here.
CFDs are leveraged products and can result in the loss of your capital. All trading involves risk. Only risk capital you’re prepared to lose. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
This post is for educational purposes and should not be considered as investment advice. All information collected from https://www.interactivebrokers.com/ on March 21, 2018.