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Interactive Brokers Review
Interactive Brokers is a provider of FX trading services. They provide traders with access to a wide range of products across many markets, including currencies, indexes, stocks, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). They provide a variety of energy, metals, and agricultural commodities to derivative traders.
Pros
- Segregates client funds
- Established in 1977
- Regulated by Financial Conduct Authority
- Min. deposit from $10,000
Cons
- Doesn’t offer VPS (See alternatives)
- Inactivity Fee
- Limited range of instruments
A minimum deposit of $10,000 is required to create a live account. Alternatively, Interactive Brokers provides a demo account through which you may practise and become acquainted with their platform.
The Financial Conduct Authority, UK (FRN: 208159) and ASIC (AFSL #453554) regulate the firm. All customer money is held in a separate bank account by Interactive Brokers, which employs tier-1 institutions for this . Interactive Brokers has been established since 1977, and has a head office in the United States.
Before we get into some of the finer specifics of Interactive Brokers’ spreads, fees, platforms, and trading features, you may want to open their website in a new tab by clicking the button below to get the most up-to-date information straight from them.
Full disclosure: We may receive a commission if you sign up with a broker using one of our links.
What are Interactive Brokers’s spreads & fees?
Interactive Brokers, like most brokers, charges a fee based on the spread, which is the difference between the buy and sell price of an asset.
The commissions and spreads shown here are based on the minimal spreads available on Interactive Brokers’ website.
Forex | Interactive Brokers | IG | City Index |
EUR/USD(Average: 0.7 pips) | 0.1 pips | 0.6 pips | 0.7 pips |
GBP/USD(Average: 1.1 pips) | 0.1 pips | 0.9 pips | 1.7 pips |
USD/JPY(Average: 1.1 pips) | 0.1 pips | 0.7 pips | 0.6 pips |
AUD/USD(Average: 0.8 pips) | 0.1 pips | 0.6 pips | 0.6 pips |
USD/CHF(Average: 2.3 pips) | 0.1 pips | 1.5 pips | 2.3 pips |
USD/CAD(Average: 2.9 pips) | 0.1 pips | 1.7 pips | 0.5 pips |
NZD/USD(Average: 3.6 pips) | 0.1 pips | 2.0 pips | 2.8 pips |
EUR/GBP(Average: 2.4 pips) | 0.1 pips | 0.9 pips | 0.5 pips |
Spreads are dynamic and are for informational purposes only.
As you can see, Interactive Brokers’s minimum spread for trading EUR/USD is 0.1 pips – which is relatively low compared to average EUR/USD spread of 0.70 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 $4.20. Here’s a rough breakdown of the fees and how this compares against IG & XTB .
Interactive Brokers | IG | XTB | |
Spread from: | $ 1.00 | $ 6.00 | $ 2.00 |
Commission: | $2.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Total cost of a 100k trade: | $ 3.00 | $ 6.00 | $ 2.00 |
$3 more | $1 less | ||
VISIT IB | VISIT IG | VISIT XTB |
All fees/prices are for informational purposes and are subject to change.
What can you trade with Interactive Brokers?
You may trade over 200 different items at Interactive Brokers, including over 22 currency pairs. For comparison, we’ve summarised all of the many types of instruments provided by Interactive Brokers, as well as those offered by IG and XTB.
FX / Currencies | IB | IG | XTB |
# of forex pairs offered | 22 | 90 | 48 |
Major forex pairs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Minor forex pairs | Yes | Yes | |
Exotic forex pairs | Yes | Yes | |
Cryptocurrencies* | No | Yes | Yes |
Commodity CFDs | Interactive Brokers | IG | XTB |
# of commodities offered | 34 | 21 | |
Metals | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Energies | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Agricultural | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Index & Stock CFDs | Interactive Brokers | IG | XTB |
# of stocks offered | 8000 | 1606 | |
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 IG’S INSTRUMENTS | SEE XTB’S INSTRUMENTS |
What’s the Interactive Brokers trading experience like?
1) Platforms and apps
Interactive Brokers provides a user-friendly bespoke trading platform that is accessible through a browser-based WebTrader. If you’re looking for a MetaTrader broker, check out our MT4 broker comparison. Traders may trade with their preferred device thanks to the mix of downloading platforms for both Mac and Windows.
They now provide mobile apps for Android and iOS, making it easy to keep track of your investments.
Still not sure?
Open a practice account & learn to trade
2) Executing Trades
There are no minimum or maximum trading requirements at Interactive Brokers. They will differ based on the account, trader, and instrument. The maximum trading requirements differ according to the trader and the instrument. Because Interactive Brokers provides ECN and STP execution, you may anticipate incredibly narrow spreads and more transparency over the price you pay to execute your trades.
As a market maker, Interactive Brokers may have lower entry criteria than an ECN broker, which benefits from a higher number of transactions and has higher capital and minimum trading requirements. Market makers generally have a lower minimum deposit, lower minimum trade requirements, and no trading commission.
As an added benefit, Interactive Brokers is one of the few brokers who offer no requotes, so you won’t have to worry about slippage (your trades being ordered at a different price to what you executed them at).
Margin requirements, like those of other brokers, vary based on the trader, account, and instrument. The most recent margin requirements may be seen on their website.
Finally, we’ve listed some of the popular funding methods that Interactive Brokers offers its traders below.
Trading Features:
- Allows scalping
- Allows hedging
- Offers STP
- Low min deposit
Accounts offered:
- Demo account
- Mini account
- Standard account
- ECN account
- Managed account
Funding methods:
- Bank Transfer
- American Express
3) Client support
Interactive Brokers support a wide range of languages including English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Japanese.
4) What you’ll need to open an account with Interactive Brokers
Because Interactive Brokers is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, every new customer must pass a few simple compliance tests to verify that you understand the risks of trading and that you are eligible to trade. When you establish an account, you will most likely be asked for the following information, so have it 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 prove your trading expertise, so allow at least 10 minutes to finish the account opening procedure.
While you may browse their platform immediately, it’s essential to know that you won’t be able to execute any transactions until you pass compliance, which can take up to several days, depending on your situation.
79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.