How To Open An Interactive Brokers Account

Step By Step

Here’s the path two of our team have followed on separate occasions:

1. Start the application. Head to the broker’s site and pick your account type. Most people want the Individual account, but there are also Joint, Trust, IRA (US), Corporate, and Advisor options. You’ll also need to choose between a Cash account (you can only trade with money you’ve deposited) and a Margin account (allows leverage and shorting, but is much riskier and generally requires a $2,000 minimum balance).
2. Choose Lite or Pro. You select your pricing plan during setup. US and Singapore residents can pick the commission-free IBKR Lite, which applies to select stocks and ETFs; most other countries (and most active traders) land on IBKR Pro. You can switch later.
3. Pick your base currency. Choose your local currency to base your account in (e.g., USD, GBP, or EUR). This determines the currency used for your reports and account. If you buy international stocks IBKR often automatically converts currency when trading, or lets you hold multi-currency cash balances.
4. Prove who you are. You’ll upload photo ID and proof of address, and answer questions about your income, net worth, and trading experience. The experience questions actually gate some products, so answer honestly rather than ticking every box. If you’re a non-US resident trading US stocks, you’ll also sign a digital W-8BEN form as part of this step. We’ve done it – it only takes a couple of clicks and automatically reduces US dividend tax withholding from 30% in line with treaty agreements, where they exist.
5. Set up two-factor authentication. This is mandatory. We installed the IBKR Mobile authenticator, which you’ll then need every time you log in.
6. Wait for approval, then fund. Once you’re cleared, you transfer money in. There’s a $0 minimum to open, though you’ll need at least $2,000 in the account to switch margin on.

Interactive Brokers offers more types of accounts than most no-frills online brokers, including ISAs for UK residents

What You’ll Need Ready

We collected these documents before signing up at IBKR – it made the process much smoother:

• Government photo ID (passport, driving license or national identity card)
• Proof of address dated within the last few months
• National insurance / tax ID number
• Bank details for funding

Is The Sign-Up Smooth?

Interactive Brokers has one of the slower, more outdated account sign-up processes we’ve encountered. At BrokerListings, we’ve signed up for over 100 live and demo trading accounts at online brokers, and IBKR stands out for not having increasingly available solutions like fast sign-ups via existing social accounts, such as Google, Apple or Facebook, plus account configuration forms that are cumbersome and that sport an old-school design.

Funding The Account

Funding isn’t Interactive Brokers’ strongest point. Outside the US, you’re mostly limited to local or international bank wires or Wise, with no debit cards or PayPal. US clients get more options, including ACH transfers and cheques (not many brokers still accept cheques). The first one or two withdrawals each month are generally free (country dependent – e.g. two in US, one in Japan). After that, you pay a small fee. Plan your transfers accordingly.

Why Has My IBKR Application Not Been Approved?

If your account application approval has been delayed, it could be due to several reasons. We combed through user reviews and our own experience to highlight the most likely causes:

• You put a different name or address across documents.
• Your proof of address is too old or cropped.
• A document is blurred or submitted in an unsupported format.
• A driving licence has been used for both ID and address where IBKR requires separate evidence.
• Your tax-residency information is incomplete.
• Your requested trading permissions, i.e. products and settings, do not match your stated experience.
• Outstanding tasks still remain in Client Portal after the main form has been submitted (we missed some of these the first time).