| Founded | 1977 |
| Platform | TWS Mosaic, Classic TWS, IB TWS for Apple IOS and Google Android, IB WebTrader |
| Minimum account size | AU$10,000 |
| Minimum lot size | 0.01 |
| Tradable assets | more than 1,000 tradable instruments |
| Maximum margin | 1:100 |
| Spread on EUR/USD | 0.1 pip |
| Payment methods | Wire, ACH Initiated at Your Bank, US Automated Clearing House (ACH) Transfer Initiated at IB, Check, Online Bill Payment, BPAY, Canadian Bill Payment, Canadian Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), Direct Rollover, Trustee-to-Trustee |
| Demo account | Yes with AU$1M Virtual Money |
| Accepts Australian traders | Yes |
| Regulated | US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (USA), IIROC (Canada), FCA (UK), NSE, BSE & NSDL (India), Kanto Finance Bureau Director (Kimyo-Japan), Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HongKong) |
| Support | Email, Phone, & Live Chat |
Pros
- Operating for many years already
- Regulated but not in Australia
- Over 1,000 instruments
Cons
- AU$10,000 minimum deposit too high
- Low leverage
- Mediocre support
- Plagued by a lot of unsatisfactory reviews
Interactive Brokers has been in the business since 1977. They are regulated and registered with a number of financial regulators but does it mean that they are the best in this industry? Let’s look at the finer details to find out.
Platform
They have developed a suite of platforms based on the needs of their clients. The IB Trader Workstation (TWS) allows trading on over 100 markets from a single account while its IB WebTrader is a web-based platform which can be accessed on any web browser. Trading on-the-go is also possible via the mobile apps which are compatible with Android and iOS-powered devices. This warrants a Platform score of 8/10.
Design
The interface was quite good but the colors used were just to dark. They should change it to light colors to make it easier to read the texts especially on the market feeds. This merits a Design score of 3/5.
Minimum Deposit
The minimum account size is perhaps one its major disadvantages as it requires an initial deposit of AU$10,000 which is far beyond the average size. This is clearly not affordable for the average trader and it is for this reason why they got a low Minimum Deposit score of 1/5.
Minimum Lot Size
With Interactive Brokers you can place minimum lot size of 0.01 similar to the standard size and for this they deserve a Minimum Trade Score of 4/5.
Tradable Assets
More than 1,000 instruments can be traded on the platform which includes stocks, options, futures, forex, bonds, ETFs and CFDs. This level of diversity warrants a Tradable assets score of 5/5.
Payouts
They have direct access to interbank forex quotes so prices are delivered in 1/10 of a pip which translates to tight spreads even for the major pairs. For example, the spread for the EUR/USD pair reached as low as 0.1 pip. This warrants a Payouts score of 10/10.
Withdrawal Time
Withdrawal requests submitted prior to the cut-off are processed on the same day but there are cases that they do reviews that could delay the processing time. In our case it took 2 days before the request was processed. Based on our scoring system, Vantage FX notched a Withdrawal Time score of 8/10.
Deposit and Withdrawal Methods
Account funding can be done via Wire, ACH Initiated at Your Bank, US Automated Clearing House (ACH) Transfer Initiated at IB, Check, Online Bill Payment, BPAY, Canadian Bill Payment, Canadian Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), Direct Rollover and Trustee-to-Trustee. This covers all the major payment options which is why they got a Deposit and Withdrawal Methods score of 5/5.
Customer Support
Aside from being hard to reach, their support were only able to deliver mediocre customer service. Even the most basic questions took a lot of time to be answered and in most cases, they keep in doing sales talks which was a real turnoff. This deserves a low Support score of 8/15.
Quoting Accuracy
The platform was able to display market prices in real-time although there were some instances of slight delays whenever markets are highly volatile. Overall, this broker was able to get a Quote Accuracy Score of 9/10.
Reputation
Although Interactive Brokers has been in this business for more many years already, they are plagued with a lot of negative reviews and ratings not just from professional review sites but also from actual traders. Even those from Australia were not satisfied with their service based on our extensive research. This warrants a Reputation score of 9/20.
Conclusion 7/10
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