IB is a GREAT Direct Access Broker

H

hayman

As a Junior member of ET, I cannot yet rate the Direct Broker vendors, and just wanted to share my first year of experience with IB. I had formerly used Amertrade, and now use them as my backup broker only, due to many dissatisfactions that I had with them. I am really amazed at some of the poor ratings that IB has received from some of its raters. I felt that I needed to defend IB, since I truly think they are a great service.

Overall, I think IB is an exceptionally great service, for the following reasons:

- Great execution.

- Direct Access via SMART order routing technology.

- Great rates. The commission schedule is extremely competitive,
given the level of service.

- Commission rate includes SEC fees (keeps bookkeeping simple).

- Flexible interface, with audible indicators.

- Great user interface, that is intuitive and simple to use.

- Great customer support. The few times I called, I spoke with
someone who was both knowledgeable and courteous. I've
only gotten "blown off" once, and that was during the east
coast blackout (understandable.....). Keep in mind that I don't
call often - they are not a hand-holding company - but when
you have a legitimate problem/issue, they are always there
to help.

- Prompt technical responses posted to their message board.

- Totally open system, that allows me to augment (appealing
since I am a technical guy).

- Immediate update of account info after a trade is consummated.

- I am totally impressed with the detail and organization of their
website. Well thought out and put together. Very easy to
navigate.

- On-line application was extremely well organized and
informative.

- Wiring of money to my account was flawless and executed in a
timely fashion.

- Well-capitalized company.

- Offers its customers notes paying in excess of 8 %.

- Prompt releases to bugs that are pointed out.

I just wish I had heard of them sooner. Their advertising is minimal.

Anyone find anyone better out there than IB ??????????????
 
For regulatory reasons, I'm not able to comment (nor wil you find any rep of IB to comment on this subject in an open forum). Sorry to say, but if you are in the dark, you probably aren't eligible.
 
Indeed my experience with IB has been very positive, I mainly trade futures and shopped a number of brokers before setting the primary account with IB.....interestingly enough, when I asked other brokers how the compared themselves with IB I got numerous comments about how bad IB was......I wonder how they know? That many customers exiting IB? I wonder how many of those brokers post on here? lol
 
I agree for the most part, but one thing that I don't understand is why IB has to hold a check deposit for 10 business days (2 full weeks). My other brokers hold for only 3-5 days. Perhaps def can help explaining this. Also, IB does not pay interest on $10k in an account- a drawback for long term investment.

This said, I do think IB is the best broker for active trading.

xje
 
was that a paid advertisment to hook us?:) Be interested to read on that, Def can you at least tell us if that is something we can read about at the website? and where?
Thanks
 
Quote from def:

For regulatory reasons, I'm not able to comment (nor wil you find any rep of IB to comment on this subject in an open forum). Sorry to say, but if you are in the dark, you probably aren't eligible.
More...

i assume that this falls under the private placement area and must be an accredited investor to participate. is that correct?
 
I did not realize that everyone cannot invest in the 8% to i think it was 10% in the past year. They send me an e mail everytime they issue new notes.

Overall, IB is a great broker, the best i think for someone that trades 1,000 shares or less like me, very fast to place an order with IB too. Very few problems with IB, but when you need customer service, often IB will not be willing to help, and some reps can be rude on the phone. But you have to have some perspective, what do you expect for .01 to .005 per share.
 
Quote from xje:

I agree for the most part, but one thing that I don't understand is why IB has to hold a check deposit for 10 business days (2 full weeks).
This said, I do think IB is the best broker for active trading.

xje
More...

IB's policy is to hold funds from personal checks for 10 business days. Like most firms, IB does not receive a daily list of cleared checks from its bank and does not know when funds from personal checks have cleared. It can take 10 or more days for a check to be rejected by the customer's bank and returned to IB's bank at which time IB's bank account is debited. Checks are rejected for various reasons such as insufficient funds, account closures and stop payments usually because of customers' mistakes but sometimes because of customers' fraudulent intents. IB experienced losses in the past from rejected checks and therefore implemented the 10 business day hold on personal checks. IB wants its customers to trade as soon as possible and encourage them to send funds by bank check or by wire transfer for immediate funds availability.


Interest on 10K: IB doesn't charge for incoming/outgoing wires and other misc fees other brokers tack on. Debit margin is probably the lowest in the business with a rate as low at 50bps over libor (currently about 1.8%). credit interest is also amongst the most generous in the business for amounts over 10K. how come no one complains about that :) I guess there's a tradeoff.
 
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