Interactive Brokers gets rid of monthly fees & minimal account values

[jacob_]

Interactive Brokers is probably one of the best brokers worldwide, but outside of the US (where the Free IBKR Lite account was available), one had to deposit at least 10k USD and there was a minimal monthly fee of 10 USD per month, unless your account value was above 100k USD.

For many people (including myself, initially), this was an important reason to go to another broker, such as an Interactive Brokers clone (Banx, Lynx, Captrader etc.).

According to the website (https://www.interactivebrokers.eu/en/index.php?f=38234), Interactive Brokers got completely rid of these requirements. I think this makes it very attractive for European and worldwide customers.

Clarification (kudos to @matheww1):

• IBKR usually charges 1 USD minimal fier in the fixed commission system: https://www.interactivebrokers.eu/en/index.php?f=39753&p=stocks1.
• However, there is a minimal fee of only 0.35 USD in the tiered commission structure: https://www.interactivebrokers.eu/en/index.php?f=39753&p=stocks2.

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with IBKR in any way and this post does not contain any promotions or affiliate links. Just want to share the good news.

 

[mikealex315]

@jacob_ I disabled my Tradestation subscription in January and I was expecting to see the inactivity fee which never came. Now it makes sense.

 

[matheww1]

@mikealex315 IB didn't charge the inactivity fee for the first 3 months of 2021 because we all got "new accounts" due to brexit. My account went from IB UK to IB IE. And the first 3 months of any new account gets the fee waived. I received an email in April saying that I'd be incurring on the monthly inactivity fee again, of 10 USD, unless I had 100k USD or more.

Now, with these news, it's hopefully gone. I'll have to wait and see for this July.

Edit: Just received the email. Yupii

 

[jkeati4]

@jacob_ Finally the answer to the 'no inactivity fee' question Thanks a lot

 

[xlaurax]

@jacob_ The 10k minimum was gone for some time, it is really interesting if they got rid of the 10$ month minimum also, if it's true they are the top choice for europeans price/quality wise, a top broker for a good price (buying etf's there is really cheap, like 1-2$ per trade)

 

[jacob_]

@xlaurax Yes, the 10k minimum was not enforced for a while, but still listed.

It is my understanding that they got rid of both officially.

I also think it's a top broker. The only thing one should check more carefully is insurance (as far as I know insurance is much lower in Europe compared to US). However, I still think that IB has much more financial backing than many other ones, so it's an extremely reputable firm not involved in any risky business (no Lehman etc.), as far as I know...

 

[harmonie7]

@jacob_ What is the current status of the account transfers? With which company will a new account be created (IB Ireland / Luxembourg / Hungary)?

 

[jacob_]

@harmonie7 Unfortunately, I don't have any reliable info on this. Maybe ask in the subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/interactivebrokers

 

[justmargie]

@harmonie7 Not Lux. Since they are shutting down that branch.

 

[mrjr]

@jacob_ Have been waiting for them to finally adapt their offering in Europe! Now if they could focus on restructuring their website...

 

[matheww1]

@jacob_ If this is true, it's amazing. I didn't get any email saying so, I think.

BTW, Trading on the US exchange doesn't cost 1 USD. It costs $0.35 or so.

 

[jacob_]

@matheww1 Thanks for pointing this out. I will clarify it!

IBKR usually charges 1 USD minimal fier in the fixed commission system: https://www.interactivebrokers.eu/en/index.php?f=39753&p=stocks1.

However, you are correct, that there is a minimal fee of 0.35 USD in the tiered commission structure: https://www.interactivebrokers.eu/en/index.php?f=39753&p=stocks2.

 

[matheww1]

@jacob_ If you want more info:

The price of us stocks is extremely cheap. Buying 1 or 100 Amazon shares only costs 0.35 USD. It only goes above 0.35 if you buy more than 100 afaik (never bought more than 100 in one go!)

Buying, for example, 20 shares of VWCE costs around 1.90€ for the first purchase of the month. If you buy it a second time, it typically only costs around 1.35€ because you don't have to pay the exchange fee again.

Tldr. Us stocks are incredibly cheap. EU etfs are really cheap! It's great!

 

[resjudicata]

@matheww1 Hi. I’m paying way more commissions than that for VWCE, I wonder what’s happening then.
could it be I’m buying the in the wrong exchange and I only get access to the fixed rate?

 

[matheww1]

@resjudicata Are your fees Fixed or Tiered?

 

[melaninzombie]

@matheww1 My commission is around $50 per trade, is the tiered pricing that much cheaper?

 

[matheww1]

@melaninzombie Depends. How much do you invest per trade?

 

[melaninzombie]

@matheww1 Around 25k USD

 

[melaninzombie]

@matheww1 Right now I have 30,000 shares of FAMI, the price per share is $0.42. To sell 14k USD of stock I get quoted $165, this seems so high

 

[matheww1]

@melaninzombie Do you use IB? 165 USD seems way too high for 14k.

To sell the same amount of apple stock for example, I pay less than 0.50$.