Instruments handled by the ACATS system include the following asset classes: equities, options, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, mutual funds and cash. It should be noted; however, that ACATS eligibility does not guarantee that any given security will transfer as each receiving broker maintains its own requirements as to which asset classes as well as securities within a particular asset class it will accept.
Account holders are encouraged to use the Contract Search link on IB’s homepage to assess transfer eligibility prior to initiating a full account transfer request. In the case of mutual funds, please click here for a list of fund families and funds offered by IB.
The rejection of an ACATS transfer request is typically initiated by action of the delivering broker once that broker has had an opportunity to review the request and confirm the details of the account to be transferred. In the case of certain rejection notices (i.e., categories 1-5 and 10 below), the ACATS process affords the receiving broker (IB) a 24-hour window within which revised information may be transmitted and after which time the transfer request will require resubmission by the client. During this 24-hour window, IB will attempt to contact the transferring client in an effort to reconcile any discrepancies causing the initial rejection notice. Rejections generally fall into the following categories:
Rejections by the Receiving Broker:
10. Credit Violation - the result of the transfer if effected would be to place the account in margin deficit and subject to forced liquidation.
IBKR provides account holders with a tool that provides real-time updates and current status of all deposit and withdrawal transactions relating to both cash and positions which have taken place over the prior 45 calendar day period. This tool is made available through the secure Account Management application and may be accessed via the Transfer & Pay and then Transaction History menu options.
Display
By default, the Transaction History page shows all of your funding transactions for the past ten days. You can adjust that up to the past 90 days by adjusting the time slider. Click and drag the slider right or left to change the time. The page updates to display all of your funding transactions for the selected period.
By default, transactions are displayed by date in descending order. Change the sort order by clicking any column heading. To change the sort order from descending to ascending, click the column heading again. For example, if you want to view all deposits listed together, click the Type column heading.
Click the Configure (gear) icon to configure the transaction history to display additional information, including Account ID, Account Title and Method.
To view transaction details, click anywhere on a transaction row. Details for the transaction appear in a popup window. From the transaction detail popup window, you can perform any of the following operations:
Search and Filter
Search for a specific transaction by Account ID, Account Title, Transaction Type (deposit, withdrawal, etc.), Transaction Method (check, wire, etc.), or Status by typing the search criteria in the Search field, and then clicking the Search (magnifying glass) icon. Search words are not case-sensitive.
Filter the transaction history by Transaction Type, Method or Status.
Print and Export
To print the transaction history as currently displayed, click the Print icon located in the upper right corner of the screen.
To export your transaction history to an XLS file (Microsoft Excel-compatible), click the Export icon located in the upper right corner of the page. You are prompted to save or download the .XLS page to your computer (depending on your web browser). Once saved, you can open that file in Microsoft Excel.
To make a wire deposit to your account you will first need to provide a deposit notification through Account Management. Once logged into Account Management, select the Transfer & Pay and then Transfer Funds menu options. From there you will select the Transaction Type of "Deposit" and the Method of "Wire".
You will then be prompted to input your delivering bank details including deposit amount, currency of denomination and sending institution. Once that information has been input you will be provided with all the details (e.g., ABA number, Swift BIC Code and bank account number) in a printable form which you, in turn, can provide to your bank in order for it to initiate the wire transfer.
Please note that creation of this notification is essential as the details necessary for your bank to wire funds vary by the currency in which the wire is denominated. In addition, this notification also serves to ensure that the funds are properly matched to your account immediately upon arrival.
Should you have further questions, please contact one of our Customer Service Centers. Contact numbers and hours of operation may be found through the following website link: http://individuals.interactivebrokers.com/en/index.php?f=1560
IB does not accept or hold any physical stock certificates. As a matter of operational efficiency and costs, we hold all securities in street name meaning that they are registered electronically in the name of IB on the books of the issuer. IB, in turn, holds securities for clients in what is known in the industry as 'book entry' form which simply means that we maintain a record on our books that you are the beneficial owner of the securities.
The particular currency which is necessary to purchase and settle any given product is determined by the listing exchange not IB. If, for example, you enter into a transaction to purchase a security which is denominated in a currency that you do not hold and assuming that you have a margin account and sufficient margin excess, IB will create a loan for those funds. Note that this is necessary as IB is obligated to settle that trade with the clearinghouse solely in the designated currency of denomination. If you do not wish to have such a loan created and incur its associated interest costs, you would need to either first deposit funds into your account in the required currency form and amount or convert existing funds in your account using either our IdealPro (for amounts in excess of USD 25,000 or equivalent) or odd lot (for amounts below USD 25,000 or equivalent) venues, both available through the TWS.
Also note that once you close out a security position which is denominated in a given currency, the proceeds will remain in that currency regardless of whether it is the Base Currency you've selected for your account. Accordingly, such proceeds will be subject to exchange rate risk relative to your Base Currency until such time you either perform a currency conversion or use those proceeds for another similarly denominated product.
For regulatory purposes IB is required to segregate the securities assets within your account from the commodities assets. Those commodities assets may include the market value of options on futures positions plus any cash required as margin as a result of commodities futures and options on futures positions. Periodically, the margin requirement on your commodities positions will be recomputed and should this requirement decline, cash in excess of that required as commodities margin will be transferred from the commodities side of your account to the securities side. Likewise, should the commodities margin requirement increase, IB will transfer any available cash from the securities side to the commodities side. As SIPC insurance is provided to assets on the securities side of your account but not the commodities, this periodic transfer is performed to ensure that your cash balance is afford the greatest protection possible. It should be noted that these cash movements represent journal entries within your account which serve to fully offset each other and therefore have no impact upon the aggregate cash balance within your account (see the Total column within the Cash Report section of the Activity Statement).
Automated Clearing House (ACH) deposits/withdrawals may be made to your IBKR account from and to your bank using one of two transfer methods. Under the first, referred to as ‘ACH Initiated By Us’, your transfer request will be automatically processed through a message sent to your bank by IBKR. Prior to using this method you will need to create a standing instruction through Transfer and Pay which authorizes IBKR and your bank to electronically transfer funds between the two accounts. You will be asked to verify your bank in one of two ways:
Once established, this transfer method can be used for future deposit and withdrawal requests.
Under the second, referred to as ‘ACH Initiated By Bank’, you provide IB with a notification of the amount you wish to transfer via ACH and then you contact your bank and provide them with a print out of the notification form in order to initiate the transfer. Please note that your notification to IBKR under this method only serves to match your deposit to your account upon arrival and does not result in the transfer of funds. The transfer of funds will only be initiated once you provide your bank with the IBKR destination account details included on the notification form.
To use the 'ACH Initiated At IBKR' transfer method, you will need to first set up instructions through your IBKR account as follows:
Traditional
Instant
Instant Account Verification (IAV) allows IBKR Clients the opportunity to have bank and account information verified instantly during the account set-up process. IAV is now presented to clients as an option in addition to the traditional process of verifying bank and account information which sends small dollar value transactions back and forth over the course of a few days.
Click Continue when complete. (OR, click Cancel Request if you do not with to proceed)
9. What appears next will be based on your Security Device:
If using Security Code Card:
a) The Card Values field will appear.
b) Follow the onscreen instructions and use your card to obtain values.
c) Enter values into Card Values.
If using either the Digital Security Card or IB Key App:
a) The Challenge Code and Passcode fields will appear.
b) Enter the Challenge Code into the Digital Security Card and press OK, OR on your smartphone, launch the IB Key App, enter the Challenge Code, and click Generate.
c) Enter the Response String returned into the Passcode field.
10. Click Continue.
Success! You may use this transfer method for future deposit and Withdrawal transfers.
Be Careful…
For steps 4 and 6 above, the following points are important to keep in mind:
Step 4- When logging into your online banking site, be sure the username and password is entered properly. For example, case sensitivity, middle initials, etc. may be a part of your username and password. An error message will appear if there is an issue.
Step 6- For security reasons, the name of the bank Account Holder must match the name on the IBKR account. If the names do not match, the following message will appear.
Note that IBKR does not charge any fee for ACH deposits and accounts are afforded one free withdrawal request per month. Also note that ACH deposits are subject to a 4 business day credit hold after arrival prior to being credited to your account. In addition, if funds are withdrawn to a bank other than the originating bank, a 44-business-day withdrawal hold period will be applied.
IB does offer a paper trading account which allows one to use the full range of IB trading facilities in a simulated environment using real market conditions. This account, however, is made available only after the regular trading account has been approved and funded. Until that time, we recommend that you try the online demos made available to prospective customers through our website to get an overview of system functionality. A demo of both the TraderWorkstation or WebTrader trading platforms may be found by visiting our website at www.interactivebrokers.com and selecting the Individuals page. There you will be presented with a series of links including one titled 'Demos'.