Funding Reference
Deposit Funds
We offer several flexible and convenient methods for funding your account. To review method details, visit our Fund Your Account page.
About Deposit Notifications
Deposit notifications let us efficiently credit arriving funds to your account and help ensure the arriving funds retain their originating currency of denomination.1
Deposit notifications can be created in Client Portal from the Transfer & Pay > Transfer Funds > Make a Deposit menu item.
Once created, the notification will provide you with important information on where and how to send your funds to us. Instructions will vary according to location and type of funds.
Please note:
- Checks or wires we receive without deposit notifications are held until we can verify the deposit with you.
- A deposit notification does not initiate the transfer of funds. Please contact your bank or broker to initiate the transfer.
- Cancelling a deposit notification does not stop us from presenting a check for payment.
Deposit Type
Deposit Methods:
Brokerage Accounts
Deposit Methods:
Brokerage Accounts
Deposit Methods:
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA)
Deposit Methods: Brokerage Accounts
Bank Wire
Create instructions at your bank for transferring funds from your bank account to your brokerage account.
FASTEST
Trade as quickly as one business day or less, determined by your bank.
FEES
Determined by your bank, generally fees do apply.
2 STEPS
Step 1: Notify IBKR of each deposit.
Step 2: Contact your bank to send wire. No limit amounts.
Direct Automated Clearing House (ACH) Transfer from Your Bank
Use this method to link your bank account with your brokerage account. Once setup at your bank, you use your bank login to initiate transfers to your brokerage account.
In addition, this method can be used to setup direct deposit of your paycheck to your brokerage account.
FAST
Trade in one business day or less after initial setup.
FREE
Free
1 STEP
Use your bank login to initiate and complete transfers. We have no limit, but your bank may.
Connect Your Brokerage Account to Your Bank Account via ACH
Setup a template at Interactive Brokers to move funds from your US bank to your brokerage account.
SLOW
Initial deposit: Trade after four business days.
Subsequent deposits: May be available immediately (depending on tenure, deposit history and account balance). Otherwise, four business days to trade.
FREE
Free
1 STEP
Use your bank login to initiate and complete transfers. Limited to $100,000 per seven days.
Online Bill Pay
Add Interactive Brokers as a payee in your bank’s existing bill payment application. Once setup, you can use your bank’s bill payment application to move funds from your bank to IBKR.
FAST
Trade in one to six business days, determined by your bank.
FREE
Fees are determined by your bank, but generally fee.
2 STEPS
Step 1: Notify IBKR of each deposit.
Step 2: Send deposit via bank's bill payment app. Limits determined by your bank.
Mail a Check
Mail a check to Interactive Brokers for deposit into your brokerage account. Please complete a deposit notification prior to mailing the check to obtain the correct mailing address for your check, and include your brokerage account number on the check.
SLOW
Trade six business days after your check arrives at IBKR.
FREE
Fees are determined by your bank, but generally fee.
2 STEPS
Step 1: Notify IBKR of each deposit.
Step 2: Mail a check to IBKR. Limits determined by your bank.
Direct Deposit
A simple and convenient way to fund your brokerage account by having your paycheck, pension, government agency or other recurring payment deposited into your brokerage account.
FAST
Trade in one business day or less after initial setup.
FREE
Free
1 STEP
Setup direct deposit through your employer, pension, government agency or other source of recurring payment.
IBKR Mobile Check Deposit
US clients can use our IBKR Mobile app to deposit funds by uploading a picture of a check drawn on a US bank.
FAST
Trade in one business day or less after initial setup.
FREE
Free
1 STEP
Setup direct deposit through your employer, pension, government agency or other source of recurring payment.
BPAY
BPAY is an Australian bill payment service that can be used to transfer funds from your bank to your brokerage account. Please complete a deposit notification prior to initiating the transfer to receive our Biller Code and Customer Reference Number (CRN), which must be provided to your bank to initiate the transfer of funds.
FAST
Trade in one to six business days determined by your bank.
FREE
Free
2 STEPS
Step 1: Notify IBKR of each deposit.
Step 2: Send deposit via bank's bill payment app. Limits determined by your bank.
Canadian Bill Payment
An electronic fund transfer available for Canadian dollar (C$) deposits from a C$ denominated account from your Canadian financial institution.
FAST
Trade in one to six business days determined by your bank.
FREE
Fees are determined by your bank, but generally free.
2 STEPS
Step 1: Notify IBKR of each deposit.
Step 2: Send deposit via bank's bill payment app. Limits determined by your bank.
Canadian Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
Clients of Interactive Brokers Canada can use EFT to make US or Canadian dollar deposits from a bank in Canada that allows EFT transactions.
SLOW
Initial deposit: Trade after four business days.
Subsequent deposits: May be available immediately (depending on tenure, deposit history and account balance). Otherwise, four business days to trade.
FREE
Free
1 STEP
Use your IBKR login to initiate and complete transfers. Limited to $100,000 per seven days.
Deposit Methods: Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA)
Direct Rollover (IRA Accounts Only)
You can do a direct rollover of assets from a 401K or other retirement plan into a Direct Rollover Account. During the transaction process, you will be prompted to complete the information about your existing retirement plan, which will be used to initiate the rollover.
Trustee-to-Trustee (IRA Account Only)
You may transfer assets from an IRA account held with another trustee/custodian to an IBKR IRA account. The assets are transferred directly trustee/custodian to trustee/custodian, with no distribution of assets to you.
Late Rollover (IRA Account Only)
You may transfer assets from an existing 401K or other retirement plan into a Direct Rollover Account. You are eligible to use a late rollover if you self-certify that you qualify for a waiver of the 60-day rollover requirement.
Employee/Employer SEP Contributon (IRA Account Only)
A SEP plan allows employers to contribute to traditional IRAs (SEP-IRAs) set up for employees. Both employees and employers can transfer funds to the account.
Recurring Transactions
Any deposit transaction except Direct Rollovers and Trustee-to-Trustee deposits can be scheduled to recur at monthly, quarterly or yearly intervals. During the deposit notification process, you will be given the opportunity to save your transaction as a recurring transaction. The bank information you enter for the transaction can be used for both recurring and non-recurring transactions.
Account Type Specifics
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
IRA Accounts |
Contributions may be made by wire, check, or EFT. Please note:
When transferring from another IRA account, you may only deposit the cash or positions into an IBKR account that has the same IRA type. IBKR Direct Rollover accounts may receive funds from any type of IRA, 401k or retirement plan accounts. Once funds are transferred from a 401k or retirement plan account to an IBKR Direct Rollover account, they may not be transferred back to a 401k or retirement plan account. Please consult your tax advisor for guidance on IRA accounts. |
Advisor Accounts |
Advisor clients may complete a deposit notification in Client Portal if they have a username and password, otherwise the advisor can complete a deposit notification for the client. |
Proprietary Trading Group / Separate Trading Limit (STL) |
All deposits should be made to the master trading account, and then transferred to the sub account(s). |
Fully Disclosed Broker Accounts |
Clients deposit funds directly into their accounts. Brokers may use Client Portal to deposit funds to their master account or the Proprietary Account for Broker-Dealers. Fully Disclosed Brokers can also enter wire and check deposit notifications for their client accounts. |
Disclosures
- Credit Period is the number of days before funds are posted to the customer's account and available for trading. Credit is posted after the close-of-business of the relevant day (e.g., 4 business days means credit is posted close-of-business on the 4th day). Please see the knowledgebase article for more details.
- The Withdrawal Hold Period is the number of days before the customer may withdraw the funds deposited. The Withdrawal Hold Period begins on the Entry Date and ends after the close of business of the relevant day. For example, six business days means withdrawal can be submitted on the seventh business day).
- Interest is not paid during the hold period for checks. If this is a concern, we encourage customers to send a wire or ACH where interest is paid from the settlement date of the deposit.
- Please be aware that it is against Interactive Brokers policy to accept physical currency (cash) deposits. Please make all deposits to your IBKR account by wire transfer, check, direct bank transfer (ACH), or via one of the other methods described above. IBKR will charge a special handling fee of 1% of the deposit amount (minimum $50 fee) for any physical currency deposits.
- US T-Bills may be deposited as collateral, but we require a minimum of $1,000,000 in US T-Bills for a transfer. To initiate a US T-Bill transfer, contact Customer Service.
- Interactive Brokers does not accept physical stock certificates.
- Third-Party Deposits - Interactive Brokers strongly discourages and in most cases, rejects third-party deposits, which have historically been viewed by the financial services industry and its regulators as being highly susceptible to acts of fraud and money laundering. For more information, see our FAQ on the subject.
- Interest paid to you varies with market conditions. For information regarding the amount of interest currently paid on credit balances see www.interactivebrokers.com/interest.
- Interactive Brokers is not responsible for any fees charged by your or any other financial institution involved during the process of wiring funds to your IBKR account. Before wiring funds to your IBKR account, ask your financial institution if they or their correspondent bank charge for that service.
- Due to exchange control rules put into place for South African residents by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), IBKR is allowed to receive deposits in South African Rands (ZAR) from non-resident accounts and disburse ZAR to non-resident accounts. However, IBKR is not allowed to receive deposits from resident accounts or disburse ZAR to resident accounts. For more information about these rules, see the following IBKR Knowledge Base article:
http://ibkb.interactivebrokers.com/node/2888.
- In the case of wire deposits, please note that routing instructions vary by currency type and the particular instructions which you will need to supply to your bank are made available upon creation of a deposit notification through Client Portal. Deposits improperly routed by clients to a bank account not designated to accommodate deposits in the source currency are subject to rejection or automatic conversion into the local currency based on the policies of that bank. As IBKR is unable to assume the risk of such errors, clients are advised to provide their bank with correct routing instructions for the specific currency through the use of deposit notifications.
- In the case of deposits made by check, IBKR will not accept any checks which require endorsement to IBKR and will only accept check deposits having IBKR as the direct payee where the party who writes the check either:
- Has the same last name as the individual account holder (e.g.; spouse or, child); or
- In the case of organization/institution accounts, maintains an affiliation with the account (e.g.; officer, trader or owners).