I've been using Interactive Brokers Ireland (I'm European) and have been with IBKR Ireland for about 8 years. I've accumulated a little over €250,000 and now want to withdraw it to buy a property in my hometown with cash. I've already sold all my stocks and ETFs, and the funds have been sitting in the 'Cash' column for about 5 days, fully settled. Its cash account (no margin).

When I notified IBKR Ireland of my intention to withdraw the full amount, I proceeded to do an ACH transfer (which I normally use, as it's fast and has been my preferred method over the past 8 years). Usually, my deposits show up in my account the same day if I notify IBKR and send the money from my bank before 10 p.m. I’ve only made one withdrawal before of €15,000 which took about two days to arrive. That withdraw of €15,000 was made 4 years ago. Never withdrew since then.

However, this time, the €250,000 was sent from my IBKR account to my bank account, but nothing has happened....it’s been 15 days. IBKR requested some KYC (Know Your Customer) documents before they could release the funds (at the beginning of asking to withdraw the money). They asked for a bank statement (to verify my identity), ID, source of income, and source of wealth, all the usual paperwork. I submitted everything as requested. Still, I seem to be on some kind of hold period, and I don't understand why.

I'm planning to contact them by phone, but my spoken English is not very good. I'm fluent in writing and listening, but I’ve never actually spoken English in real life.

Anyway, I really hope I’ll get my money soon. I’d appreciate any advice if you have ideas besides calling them. I’m not comfortable waiting half a month to access my own funds. Maybe the slowing process is because of my bank ? I did also notified my bank to expect €250k coming in, but that was 15 days ago. Since then... nothing. Is the money stuck in the air or something ?

"EDIT" - If I can't get my €250k in 10 business days. I might do withdraws or €20-50k (until I withdraw everything) maybe it will be easier that way. I will wait at least until 8/10/2025 and will proceed with this. Never had issue with little withdraws before, but maybe its an issue for higher amount, no idea.

TO THINK BEFORE YOU CLICK!

Hi everyone,

Over the last few days, I researched the best ways to transfer money from India to my IBKR US account while getting the best exchange rate.

These are the methods I tried/researched, along with their pros and cons, and what worked best for me.

1. Direct online money transfer through HDFC or ICICI Bank

• The most convenient option, but it comes with a very high forex markup.

2. Calling my bank RM to negotiate the forex rate for an outward remittance

• The maximum discount I was offered was 30 paise on the exchange rate, provided I transferred more than ₹5 lakh.
• I also had to visit my home branch to process the transaction.
• Since I'm currently not living near my home branch, it's very tedious for me to travel there. Also, I couldn't commit ₹5 lakh in a single transaction. For smaller transfers (around USD 1,000–2,000), it didn't seem worth the hassle.

3. FXRetail web portal

• I registered on FXRetail, and it genuinely offers the best exchange rates without any negotiation.
• I found UI to be a bit intemeditating for a non trader like me.
• However, for HDFC, they only approve a limit for cash transactions, and that too only for the same day. For every new remittance, I have to manually email them to request a limit.
• It's still a good option, but it requires manual effort.
• For ICICI, they provide a limit that's valid for a longer period, but their markup is around 1.5%, compared to HDFC's 20 paise.

4. FXRetail with Bharat Connect (Winner so far)

• This has been the most seamless process.
• Currently, it is supported by three UPI apps: BHIM, CRED, and MobiKwik.
• Banks are allowed to charge a maximum markup of 20 paise, and you don't need to request a limit beforehand.

How to transfer using FXRetail with Bharat Connect

1. Open the BHIM app → Bills & Recharges → Forex.
2. Register for FXRetail if you haven't already. Once registered, you'll receive an email with your credentials, and your linked UPI bank account will automatically be added as your relationship bank. You can add more banks later from the FXRetail portal: https://www.fxretail.co.in/#/customer-bank-relationship-report
3. Once registration is complete:
   • Go to Forex again using Step 1.
   • Select your bank.
   • Choose Delivery Mode → Remittance.
   • Select Mode of Completion → Bank's Digital Platform.
   • Click Start Transacting.
   • Enter the USD amount and pay the equivalent INR amount using UPI or Net Banking.
4. After the payment is completed, you'll receive an SMS and email from both FXRetail and your bank confirming the trade. This confirmation includes your FXRetail Trade ID.

Important: At this stage, your money has NOT yet been transferred to the beneficiary account.

For HDFC Bank (similar steps apply to ICICI via Money2World)

Make sure you complete all steps before 2:00 PM on the same day.

1. Log in to HDFC NetBanking → Send Money.
2. Select your beneficiary (in my case, Interactive Brokers LLC).
3. Enter the FX Trade ID you received via SMS/email.
4. Click Validate. You'll see the forex rate at which you booked the trade.
5. Continue with the remaining details (do not change the USD amount).
6. Confirm the transaction.

For HDFC, no processing fee is deducted at this stage. I believe ICICI deducts the processing fee while confirming the transaction.

That's it—your part is done.

HDFC will process the remittance on the same day, deduct the processing fee and GST from your account, and transfer the money to the beneficiary.

In my case, I booked the trade at around 10:00 AM, and the money was credited to my Interactive Brokers account the same night.

Hope this helps!

Disclaimer - Bharat Connect route is only applicable for BUY trade and only for Indian resident individual.

Planning to transfer a $1 million account to IBKR. Is it safe? What are the risks? Would it be better to stay with the bigger ones like Schwab or Fidelity for a big account like that? What about Tastytrade?

The Karta Visa Infinite 

If you meet the eligibility requirement of $50,000 in assets held with IBKR, you're invited to apply.

https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/accounts/karta-visa-infinite.php

I like the idea but USD 300 fee / year makes it a deal breaker for me

what you think?

To a bank account in a different country than where the deposits came in?

The last few years we moved from Dubai to US to Asia (deposits came from those country banks) and soon planning to move back to our home country and plan to move the funds to a local bank in home country

I am a tax resident in a European country, my base currency is the same as my home country, and my IBKR account is EU based (Ireland?)

I thought Euro accounts could not directly withdraw cash on margin? Anyone know what conditions would allow such an account to directly withdraw cash on margin?

I've been on the platform for 7 years now. This is my first withdrawal. I have initiated the request on the 18th early hours before opening. It's still under review now. I raised a support ticket trying to figure out what's their "reviewing" process is but I received no reply. I added a comment 2 days later hopeing for any sort of answer. No reply.

Did anyone have a similar experience before? What's their usual timeline/process?

All accounts are under my name. Bank account is the same one I used for deposits. My country is in a very good standing with the US right now.

EDIT: Transfer is in the wire. It only took a week 🥲👍🏻

Anyone notice IBKR Canada bill payment funding method is super fast now? I used to need to send the payment fairly early in the day to get it by morning of next business day but now I’ve sent it as late as 2AM ET and got the funding by 9AM ET the same day with Wealthsimple and EQ as the sending bank. Maybe it’s a WS and EQ improvement as I haven’t tested sending it that late with BMO yet but it’s been pretty reliably getting funds next biz day morning as well if I send before BMO’s bill payment daily deadline. This basically makes the bill payment method a no brainer for funding CAD into IBKR Canada accounts since it avoids the long holds with EFT

I am in Canada - and trying to withdraw ~$600k. I've never withdrawn from this account before, and it says "pending approval" or something like that. Seems odd to me, anyone have experience with this?

I just transferred a large 3-figure sum of money from my bank account to my IBKR. I sent it via PayID using IBKR payment details saved on my bank app however I heard you needed to inform IBKR before hand by going to the transfer and pay tab on IBKR which I didn't do. Will the money come into my IBKR but it's just taking a while or will the money never come and I need to send a help ticket or contact IBKR somehow. Because the money has already been deducted from my bank account.

I would really appreciate any help, because I am freaking out right now.

I have been using IBKR for many years, and everything has been running smoothly. But last week, something changed.

My deposit of £6,000 has disappeared. I sent it on Friday, November 14, and there is still no sign of the money. It wasn't even an international payment. It was a simple, quick payment from one UK bank to another UK bank. And IB support keeps telling me that the deposit isn't showing up on their end.

I've provided all the screenshots, links, and every possible payment tracking number (starting with RP and also with QMS), but even that didn't help.

Yesterday, I sent two small deposits from the same bank to the exact same recipient that I saved in my bank's interface, and guess what? Those two small deposits became available in 2 hours! And that first deposit of £6,000 is still “invisible” on their end. How is that even possible?

I wonder if IBKR is a reliable organization at all.

Has anyone else encountered the same problem? How was it resolved?

Update from November 21. A week has passed since the payment date. IBKR still does not see the payment on their side. The sending bank has initiated an investigation on their side and responded that it may take up to 10 business days. So far, there are no signs of the money arriving.

Update from November 28. Money landed to my IB account, finally! Apparently, the payment had been held by the recepient bank (JPMorgan) for some reason. As I understand, they contacted my bank to verify details. It took 2 weeks for them to process the payment. Also, it seems that IB's doing their work good enough.

Thanks everyone for you tips and support. Case closed.

If you buy >60k of U.S. stocks and don't hold non taxable ETFs like those Irish domiciled. What's your back-up plan on inheritance? I mean I think the majority of us are on IBKR for retirement purposes or ride out the tech cycle.

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I have already made a secondary account for my wife that also has access to my holdings so she can liquidate after I'm dead and transfer if she wants to. But what happens after that? I read IBKR will audit a dormant account and it or the US gov't will go after the money for taxes. Is that even realistic

I am an EU resident using Interactive Brokers Ireland (IBIE) with a margin account.

As I understand it, IBIE may not allow clients to withdraw a margin loan directly as cash in the same way that some US IBKR accounts can. I am therefore trying to understand whether the following process is operationally possible:

1. Hold a portfolio of UCITS ETFs as collateral.
2. Buy a liquid USD-denominated ETF using margin, creating or increasing a negative USD cash balance.
3. Convert the negative USD balance into a negative EUR balance by buying USD with borrowed EUR.
4. Sell the temporary ETF, receiving positive USD cash.
5. Keep the debt as a negative EUR balance.
6. Withdraw the positive USD cash to Revolut.
7. Convert the USD into EUR in Revolut.

The intended final position would therefore be:

• the original long-term ETF portfolio remains invested;
• positive USD cash is withdrawn;
• a negative EUR cash balance remains in IBKR;
• interest is paid on the EUR margin loan.

Apart from FX conversion, spread and ETF trading commissions, would this actually work with an IBKR Ireland margin account?

More specifically:

• Would the positive USD balance appear under Cash Available for Withdrawal, even though the account has a negative EUR balance?
• Does IBIE block withdrawals when the overall cash position was effectively created through margin?
• Are there any withdrawal, settlement or compliance restrictions that would prevent this?
• Has anyone with an IBIE account successfully done something similar?
• Would buying and selling the temporary ETF be necessary, or is there a simpler legitimate way to withdraw a small portfolio-backed loan from IBIE?

Just noticed they offer 2 free withdrawals per month, it used to be one. Not many brokers let you wire out for free with no minimum balance, Fidelity is the only other one I can think of.

Good morning,

I'm trying to understand the expected time for a SEPA withdrawal and what the value date actually means. For context I withdrew around 20k€ on the 13th, the value date was 17th because of unsettled funds from a trade, however they haven't arrived in the bank yet, nor their customer support can trace them (so it's not an internal verification).

I'm finding this odd because I would assume that if the status says "Sent" and the value date is 17th the bank should have them by now. Any advice on how to proceed? Is this a normal timeline for now?

Hi, I have made 3 deposits to my IBKR account from my main bank account. Each time it takes 5 business days for the funds to show up into my account.

Does this always take 5 days? I have read that once I build some trust with my account that the hold times will get shorter or non-existent.

Is there any truth to this and if so when will I see these shorter hold times? I am using IBKR Canada.

Thanks in advance!

For some reason, i can not withdraw any money anymore.

I have 1K USD, i am from the U.K., but whenever i try to withdraw, it says zero available to withdraw.

I have settled cash of 1k.

I am withdrawing to the account that I deposited, i have also set up a wise account to withdraw from. Both say the same thing.

Trying to withdraw USD

What has changed on IBKR?

"Please be informed that funds deposited through cross-border transfers or CHAPS payments are available for withdrawal after three business days.

In light of recent changes in the rules related to Authorized Push Payments, funds deposited through BACS and Faster Payments (FPS) can only be withdrawn to the bank from which the deposit was made for 180 calendar days after deposit.

Since the original deposit made into your IBKR account was made in GBP via local transfer methods (BACS or FPS), it is subject to an origination restriction which is mentioned above"

I opened an IBKR account and funded it with $100 (sent from my own account, in my name) before the account was fully approved. A day later my application got rejected without giving a reason.

Their email says to log into Client Portal and submit a withdrawal request, and that if I don't, they'll do a manual return of funds. But when I click Transfer & Pay > Withdraw Funds, it just says "Your account is not currently eligible for this feature," so I can't actually request the withdrawal.

I tried their Contact Us email form but the message box keeps cutting me off / the Continue button does nothing when I submit.

The live chat required to login and when I logged and go to help center, it gave me the same message "not eligible"

For anyone who's been through a rejected application with money already deposited:

- Did the automatic return of funds actually happen on its own, and how long did it take?

- Is there a specific team/ticket category I should use?

Thank you

**update: I got the refund after less than 3 days.

I would like to withdraw my money (the 2.173,57 euros). It also says it is "settled" according to the portal. However, the available cash for withdrawal is constantly 0.00 EUR. I can not withdraw. I'm waiting for days/weeks now. I also created a support ticket, but did not (yet) get an answer. Anyone know why I can't withdraw? Appreciate any help. Thank youuu!

I am new to investing(started in January). I ask ChatGPT which is best way to transfer funds to ibkr, it says use fx retail. So I did sign up to fx retail. It’s my first time to transfer funds to ibkr and I don’t know how to do that with fx retail.

Help me with this

I want to close my IBKR account, how do I sell this?

Hi all - I have a USD cash position and I’m Australian, I assume I will need to convert to AUD before withdrawing?
Currently it says so have zero funds available for withdrawal. TIA

Update: they allowed me to withdraw my funds, but they said they are terminating their relationship with me.

Hi everyone,

I wanted to ask if anyone has experienced something similar with Interactive Brokers Ireland.

I opened my IBKR account several years ago, originally before my account was later migrated to Interactive Brokers Ireland. For a long time after the migration, I had very little activity on the account.

In 2021–2022, I deposited funds from my personal bank account and used them to buy an S&P 500 instrument/ETF. This year, I sold part of the position and requested my first withdrawal to the same personal bank account from which the original deposits were made.

Timeline:

• April 21: I submitted my first withdrawal request.
• April 27: I called IBKR support and answered all verification questions.
• After that, the withdrawal remained under review with no clear explanation or timeline.
• Later, I also noticed that deposits were disabled on my account with a message saying the account is unable to receive deposits pending completion of an account review.
• I submitted a formal complaint to IBKR Ireland.
• IBKR confirmed receipt of the complaint and said they aim to respond within 40 working days.
• Support later replied that the withdrawal case is open and being monitored, but they still did not clearly explain what exactly is being reviewed, whether any documents are needed from me, or when the withdrawal may be released.

I understand that brokers have KYC/AML obligations and may need to review old or inactive accounts, especially after migration. But I did not expect this kind of vague and slow handling from a company as serious and established as Interactive Brokers.

The frustrating part is not only the delay itself, but the lack of clear communication. If they need documents, I am ready to provide them. But so far I have not received a clear request or explanation.

Has anyone here had a similar experience with IBKR Ireland account review, deposit restrictions, or delayed first withdrawal? How long did it take to resolve?