Interactive Brokers - Deposit Funds

[veggie_mane]

Hi All

I'm looking for advice from those who have an account with Interactive Brokers. I was hoping to fund my account using Shyft and ACH, but I see that the ACH facility provided by IBKR is one that is initiated within IBKR and therefore needs linking to an actual bank account.

What's the next best (in terms of simplicity and cost) option? Doing a traditional SWIFT transfer from my bank (Nedbank) is a major hassle that requires a long form and physically going into a branch each time.

Thanks

 

[smc]

Well, you could probably fund your IB account in euros via Shyft. That would not be an ACH transfer.

 

[HavocXphere]

I recall them linking what accounts you can withdraw cash from to the same a/c so I'd be careful using anything other than an actual bank acc

 

[Tosser]

Not using ACH, but wire.
Fairly painless though, once set up, which can be a bit of a schlep initially.
My method is to transfer funds into a Mercantile bank account setup via Exchange4Free. Once funds received I call E4F to obtain an exchange rate. If happy with the rate, then they convert the currency in the mercantile account, and wire it to IBKR. I also create a deposit advise on IBKR ( not sure if entirely necessary, but worked so continue to do this).
Haven't tried withdrawals yet, but don't think you can use ACH if not a US account.

 

[Cage Rattler]

Same process using Incompass (Investec) as described for Exchange4free above.

 

[Lukcydog]

I've setup a wire transfer on the IB platform.



You can setup the beneficiary on shyft once and on IB once then re-use them whenever you want to do a transfer. No need to go into a branch...

Let me know if you need help, I'd be happy to assist. It's a bit of a learning curve with IB but once everything is setup it's a dream to use.

 

[veggie_mane]

I've setup a wire transfer on the IB platform.

View attachment 992576

You can setup the beneficiary on shyft once and on IB once then re-use them whenever you want to do a transfer. No need to go into a branch...

Let me know if you need help, I'd be happy to assist. It's a bit of a learning curve with IB but once everything is setup it's a dream to use.

Thanks I managed to figure it out (same process as you). Once Shyft does the transfer I've noticed that IB actually changes the deposit type automatically from Bank Wire to ACH Deposit or something similar. I've done two transfers so far with no issues.

 

[Jose88]

How about just funding the account with ZAR , then converting currency on IBKR itself ? Once you create a deposit advice on IBKR , could you not just use the details to make the payment from SA bank ?

 

[Cage Rattler]

Can also use ACH transfers via Transferwise account. Btw, Tradestation more problematic as they don't link with Transferwise.

 

[JayM]

How about just funding the account with ZAR , then converting currency on IBKR itself ? Once you create a deposit advice on IBKR , could you not just use the details to make the payment from SA bank ?

SARB does not allow this.

 

[LostGoat]

I am thinking of opening an IB account so I was looking into this. What is the cheapest option?

I was looking at this calculator: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...gsY0fJzzWvrRV2IOnKE_witg_U/edit#gid=160542905. from https://investorchallenge.co.za/

It appears as if Shyft is the cheapest for for all amounts above 10 000?
Are there any hidden fees or complexities that I am missing? Or will it always make sense to use Shyft and not these specialist places like Exchange4Free or Rand Swiss?

 

[Lukcydog]

I am thinking of opening an IB account so I was looking into this. What is the cheapest option?

I was looking at this calculator: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...gsY0fJzzWvrRV2IOnKE_witg_U/edit#gid=160542905. from https://investorchallenge.co.za/

It appears as if Shyft is the cheapest for for all amounts above 10 000?
Are there any hidden fees or complexities that I am missing? Or will it always make sense to use Shyft and not these specialist places like Exchange4Free or Rand Swiss?

Shyft is my goto since it launched. No hidden fees ($14 flat rate for the transfer). I transfer $3000 on occasion which makes the fee 0.47%, i'm too impatient to wait for $10,000 when my $3,000 could start working right now.

 

[LostGoat]

Shyft is my goto since it launched. No hidden fees ($14 flat rate for the transfer). I transfer $3000 on occasion which makes the fee 0.47%, i'm too impatient to wait for $10,000 when my $3,000 could start working right now.

Thanks. Do you know what they charge on the spread when buying foreign currency? That spreadsheet I posted says 0.55% but I cannot find anything official to back it up. When asking their support they could not tell me and said:

I would not be able to advise on the percentage as the rate you pay will depend on the current market rate and the market segment you fall under. For instance Private and Wealth and Investment client receive preferential rates.

Makes we wonder if I need to become a Standard Bank client to get a decent rate. Also support not being able to give you an indication of the rate without signing up is pretty frustrating.

 

[smc]

SARB does not allow this.

SARB does allow that, if you have a good reason. You just have to get permission from SARB/your bank. However, IB won't convert Rand to anything else on their system. They allow FX trading in Rand, but converting a "real" Rand currency balance isn't allowed.

 

[Lukcydog]

Thanks. Do you know what they charge on the spread when buying foreign currency? That spreadsheet I posted says 0.55% but I cannot find anything official to back it up. When asking their support they could not tell me and said:

I just took a look (7:45am) and at Google's R14.90, Shyft is giving me a rate of R15 (ie spread is 0.67%). Its appx 9c. because of their % spread, the number of cents increases as the ZAR devalues...


As for your 2nd comment: You have nothing to lose by joining Shyft and taking a look at the rates they give you and compare against what im currently getting like above.

Wrt to the private/wealth and investments, I'm skeptical whether the fees you pay monthly justify the preferential rates...

 

[LostGoat]

I've setup a wire transfer on the IB platform.

View attachment 992576

You can setup the beneficiary on shyft once and on IB once then re-use them whenever you want to do a transfer. No need to go into a branch...

Let me know if you need help, I'd be happy to assist. It's a bit of a learning curve with IB but once everything is setup it's a dream to use.

Hi, so I finally created an account on IB and Shyft, I am probably being over cautious but I just wanted to confirm that I am filling in the payments fields correctly.

I first created the Bank Wire instructions on IB. I left out the optional field of account number as I could not find my Shyft account number.

I am now trying to create the beneficiary on Shfyt. I selected International transfer -> To Company
I just wanted to confirm the fields. The wire instructions give two addresses one for IB and one for the the bank JPMorgan. Did you enter the IB address into Shyft? I am guessing company is JPMorgan with their address and then interactive brokers for bank account holder?

For reference do you only enter your IB account number? Or include the full line "Payment Reference/For Further Credit to" which they show as "account number / Name Surname".

Are there any other steps I should be aware of or is it just creating the wire instructions on IB and then the beneficiary on Shyft?

Thanks

 

[LostGoat]

Sorry just to add to the above. I clicked on the help on Shyft for the ABA routing number. And it says to use the ABA routing number and not the wire ABA routing number. When creating the wire instruction on IB it just says ABA routing number. Is that the right one that Shyft requires?

 

[Lukcydog]

I am now trying to create the beneficiary on Shfyt. I selected International transfer -> To Company
I just wanted to confirm the fields. The wire instructions give two addresses one for IB and one for the the bank JPMorgan.

For reference do you only enter your IB account number? Or include the full line "Payment Reference/For Further Credit to" which they show as "account number / Name Surname".

Are there any other steps I should be aware of or is it just creating the wire instructions on IB and then the beneficiary on Shyft?

Thanks

- JP Morgan Address - this isnt that important
- This: "account number / Name Surname". They automatically allocate based on this, if it doesnt match what they expect, they may reject it
- Just use the ABA routing Nr that IB give you.

 

[Analog Revenant]

hi there, just a quick q regarding IB..

I'm now considering using them as they dropped the minimum $10 per month admin fee (if account < $100k). I am also considering leaving a portion of deposited money in cash - so not allocated to long term investments. Sort of a emergency fund of sorts which I don't expect to use, but need non the less. I've kept in ZAR until now.

On that point, does anyone know how long it takes to withdraw from an IB account - is it quick and eays? As in +-3 days, or a bit of a hassle? So I'm thinking of having CC as 1month emergency fund, then 5months sitting in cash in IB (next to long term investments ETFs). And yes - I am well aware of the $/ZAR conversion risks.

Many thanks.

 

[Cage Rattler]

Can use Wise to transact with IB via ACH. Also, if you have any other broker accounts and struggling to get ACH connectivity due to bank accounts, use IB and Wise for the initial transfer and then broker to broker transfer thereafter.