IB - Why do you treat my Credit Union like a joke?

S

Szeven

This is a post in regards to my deposits to IB in USD, and a canadian account.

I belong to a credit union. I think it is unfair that IB holds my USD denominated bank checks for 21 business days (basically a month) because they originate from my CU.

The CU i belong to has 8 billion in customer deposits, and members equity of over 300 million. They operate 47 retail branches and 33 insurance offices (i looked it up), so why cant i deposit a measly check for 20k without you guys going crazy thinking my CU is unreliable and going to scam you?

Please explain.
 
Checks take a long time.
If it's out of state, it's longer.
If it's out of country, even longer.
I don't think it has anything to do with your bank.

Best way to get your money in is to wire.
 
depends.

best way to get ur money in same day is wire, but u pay a fee, and in most cases have to go to the bank and fill out a form.

ACH is not quite as quick as wire, but MUCH quicker than check, and u can do it while sitting at your computer wearing pajamas and fuzzy slippers

fwiw, i have noticed IB holds my ACH's much longer than ameritrade. i am not sure if that is risk management, or if they are doing the arb thing and making money off interest of deposits by holding them for a few days before making them available.

:)

IB still my favorite broker, but their holding period for ACH is usually like 3-5 days, which sux
 
Never send a check to IB. Could very well be 3 weeks. This includes cashiers checks.

Wire or ACH only. I prefer wire. 1 or 2 days. IB is even slow with that.
 
yeah, which retail banks will conduct a wire over the phone without a visit? because of mkt hours i found myself in a similar situation recently funding a new account by check that took extremely long.
 
Quote from Avid_Consumer:

yeah, which retail banks will conduct a wire over the phone without a visit? because of mkt hours i found myself in a similar situation recently funding a new account by check that took extremely long.
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why not speak with your bank officer and fax the instructions, very standard in the business.
I know this procedure works
it may cost a few dollars for the transfer (well under a 100)..versus the loss of ability to trade and generate funds?

w
 
Well I am basing my question off of my personal experience and from their own website.

It takes about 5 days for them to recieve a mail deposit from where i live, and they were very prompt acknowledging they had recieved my funds.

There are no holds on bank checks in USD funds from canada as per: http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/accounts/depositCreditHoldPeriods.php

It is here : http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/accounts/depositType.php that i realized why my checks were being held, as i had sent certified funds.

I dont do ACH or wire because i dont know how and i am comfortable claiming ignorance and waiting 5 days for reciept of a mail deposit. I am under the impression sending us funds from my canadian credit union would be difficult and i am fine with my previous methods, as long as the holds werent 21 bus days.
 
I deal with Credit Union here in Canada but I haven't experienced any delays when I sent a check to IB.

I'm very careful with my money and always cautious about banking fees and such. However that all goes out the window whenever I want to make a large transfer for my RRSP's or whatever. In that case I won't hesitate to spend $50 or $100 for a wire transfer or to fedex a form or anything like that in order to minimize delays. If it's for a transfer of for example $100,000 and I'm setting it up to earn say 20% a year, that's $100 every working day. If I had to wait 21 days thats $2100. It would be silly to think I could save the cost of a wire transfer, certified check, a courier or whatever it takes to get the money working as soon as possible.
 
the hold period was implemented to reduce fraud. it works and as a result our bad debt expense is reduced and we can offer lower commissions. This policy is probably not going to change.

Ignorance is bliss but if the time you spent posting on this thread was spent learning about Canadian ETF transfers (the Canadian equivalent of ACH) you'd find that we offer step by step instructions on what you need to do. They are simple, cost efficient and work very well. I'd argue the same is true for wires. All you need to do is set up the instructions once with your bank. As an example, I live in Hong Kong. I set up wire instructions with my bank 10 years ago in the states to xfer funds to my HK account. Yes, I had to send in original forms to my bank, however, anytime since xfering funds has been a breeze.
 
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