Funding Your Account

In this part of your account application, you tell us how you intend to fund your account. This step is optional; once your account has been approved, you can log into Account Management and fund your account from there.

You can fund your account with one or more fund transfers, one or more position transfers, or any combination of fund transfers and position transfers. Some types of transfers are "deposit notifications" only. For these methods (Wire, ACH Initiated At Your Bank, Canadian EFT, Bill Payment) your selections on this page simply notify us of your intention to deposit funds using the selected deposit method; funds are not actually moved until you instruct your bank to move them.

After you make an initial deposit or position transfer, you can go back and make additional fund deposits or position transfers before you submit your completed account application.

Deposit Methods

Here is a list of available deposit methods for funding your account. Not all deposit methods are available for all locations.

• ACH Initiated By Bank - Automated Clearing House deposit. Provide IB with a notification of the amount you wish to transfer via ACH and then contact your bank and provide them with a print out of the notification form in order to initiate a transfer. Your notification to IB 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 the IB destination account details included on the notification form.
• ACH - Automated Clearing House deposit. Your transfer request will automatically be processed through a message sent to your bank by IB. Prior to using this method, you will need to create a standing instruction through Funds Management which authorizes IB and your bank to electronically transfer funds between the two accounts then verify a series of test transactions issued to your bank account several days later to establish the link. Once established, this transfer method can be used for future deposit and withdrawal requests.
• Bill Payment - A check or electronic fund transfer that originates from an online payment service provided by your Infinancial institution. For US checks, you add us to your personal payee list and your bank mails a check for you. For electronic fund transfers, you select us from your bank's list of merchants and your bank sends an electronic payment. Electronic fund transfers are credited to your account immediately. US checks will be credited to your account after seven business days.
• Canadian Bill Payment - An electronic fund transfer available for CAD currency deposits from a CAD currency account held in your name that originates from an online payment service provided by your financial institution located in Canada. Complete a deposit notification, then submit your bill payment on your bank's online payment service. Bill payments submitted through your online bank payment system before 18:00 EST are generally received by us within three business days and are immediately credited upon receipt.
• Canadian Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) - EFT is available for USD or CAD currency deposits (for CA entity accounts) from a USD or CAD currency account held in your name at a bank located in Canada that allows EFT transactions. We limit EFT deposits to $100,000 over seven business days. EFT requests received by 09:30 ET, will be credited to your account after four business days under normal circumstances.
• Check - Paper and mail based deposit of funds. Write your account number on the check. Specific check instructions, including the printing of the deposit form, and addresses will be displayed during the deposit notification process. The address for sending your check will be printed on the deposit form. Please note that Canadian customers cannot fund their accounts with checks or bank drafts. The time it takes for a check to arrive depends on the speed of the mail. Under normal circumstances we deposit funds to your account on the same business day of check arrival. Funds are credited to the account after a seven business day credit hold, with the exception of Bank Checks which are credited immediately. Only Bank, Bill Payment and Personal checks for US Dollars are accepted.
• Wire - Same day electronic movement of funds through the fed wire system. You must contact your bank to initiate a wire and include your account name and number on the wire. Specific wire instructions and addresses will be displayed during the deposit process. Wire deposits arrive immediately to four business days, depending on your bank. Non-U.S. banks are generally at the longer end of the range. Credit to account is immediate upon arrival.

Amount - Required Minimums

We have established minimum amounts that are required to open an account.

Required minimums vary by account structure. For example, Individual accounts require 10,000 USD or the non-USD equivalent to open an account.

Bank Information

Information you enter about a financial institution used in deposit notifications and/or withdrawals is saved in our system as a set of named instructions called Bank Information. Although some of the information we ask you to enter about your bank when you fund your account is listed as optional, we recommend that you enter all of this information because once it is saved, you will be able reuse it for future fund transfers from the same financial institution.

Fields:

• Sending Institution - The name of the financial institution from which your funds will be transferred.
• Routing Number - This is the unique routing or transit code used to identify your bank in the United States. An ABA (American Bankers Association) code is usually the first nine numbers in the bottom row of numbers on any check in the US.
• SWIFT/BIC - SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is an internationally recognized identification code used for funding transfers by banks around the world. SWIFT codes typically have 8 or 11 alphanumeric characters. BIC (Bank Identifier Code) is another name for the same code. An 8-digit code refers to the primary office of the bank, which an 11-digit code refers to a branch office.
• Account Number - The account number of the account from which you are transferring funds.
• Type of instruction - For ACH Initiated by Us deposits, select the type of instruction. This bank information will be saved in our system and you will be able to use it for future fund transfers:
• ACH Debit & Credit - This type of instruction can be used for both future deposits and withdrawals between us and your bank.
• ACH Credit Only - This type of instruction can be used for future withdrawals from your account to your bank.
• Instruction Name - The name under which this set of bank information will be saved in our system. When you want to make additional deposits to your IB account, you will be given the opportunity to select previously saved bank information by its Instruction Name.

Position Transfer Methods

Here is a list of available position transfer methods for funding your account:

• ACATS - ACATS (Automated Customer Account Transfer Service) is the US Broker to Broker position transfer system. ACATS transfers let you transfer all or some of your assets from a third-party broker to your account. Expect from four to eight business days depending on your third-party broker.
• ATON - ATON (Account Transfer on Notification) is the Canadian broker equivalent of ACATS. Only Canadian and US stocks and options may be transferred between Canadian Brokers. Expect four to eight business days depending on your third-party broker.
• Asian Position Transfer - Asian stocks, warrants and ETFs may be transferred to us on a manual basis for Hong Kong, Australia or Japan. If you select this method of transferring positions into your account, be sure to follow the instructions that appear on the screen.
• European Position Transfer - European stock warrants, options, and futures may be transferred to us on a manual basis for Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. If you select this method of transferring positions into your account, be sure to follow the instructions that appear on the screen.
• Free of Payment - Delivery of long US stock positions, US Warrant positions, and Corporate and Municipal Bond positions from another US bank or broker that is member of the Depository Trust Company (DTC). Transfers are generally completed within 3-5 business days, but this depends on your third-party broker. FOP notices are valid for five business days before expiring. Once the notice has expired IB will not accept the shares.
• US Futures - The transfer of US futures into your account. If you select this method of transferring positions into your account, be sure to follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

Delivering Institution Details

This section describes the financial institution that will be moving funds to your account. These fields appear only if you decide to use previously saved bank information.

Fields:

• Which saved information would you like to use? - Information you enter about a financial institution used to fund your account is saved in our system as a set of named instructions called Bank Information. The "Which saved information would you like to use?" field appears if you have already added a deposit to your new account and wish to made an additional deposit. The bank information from your previous deposit notification has been saved in our system and you can select it from the drop-down menu. If you want to add a deposit from a different financial institution, select Initial Funding from the drop-down menu.
• Sending Institution - The name of the financial institution from which your funds will be transferred.
• ABA Routing Number - This is the unique routing or transit code used to identify your bank in the United States. An ABA (American Bankers Association) code is usually the first nine numbers in the bottom row of numbers on any check in the US.
• SWIFT/BIC Code - SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is an internationally recognized identification code used for funding transfers by banks around the world. SWIFT codes typically have 8 or 11 alphanumeric characters. BIC (Bank Identifier Code) is another name for the same code. An 8-digit code refers to the primary office of the bank, which an 11-digit code refers to a branch office.
• Account Number - The account number of the account from which you are transferring funds.