Interactive Brokers Review for International Investors: Who Can Claim the IBKR Share Award, and What It Costs in Dollars, Euros and Pounds

IBKR accepts residents of most countries, apart from those on US sanctions lists and others it considers higher risk. The share award has its own exclusions on top: residents of mainland China, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Denmark, Israel and Poland can't take part, accounts opened with IBKR Canada or IBKR India receive no shares, and IBKR doesn't award them where it has confirmed that local law prohibits the arrangement.

What counts is your country of legal residence: in IBKR's words, the country where you have your permanent home and to which you intend to return when you're away. It may differ from your citizenship and from where you pay tax. If you work abroad on a permanent or indefinite basis, that country can be your legal residence.

You also need to be new to IBKR, apply through the invitation, and open a taxable individual or joint account; retirement and other tax-advantaged accounts are excluded. The link on this page is our referral link.

IBKR says the company carrying your account is generally set by your country of legal residence, and the application shows which one it is. US residents' accounts are with Interactive Brokers LLC, regulated by the SEC; UK residents' with Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited, authorised by the FCA; and IBKR serves the European Economic Area through Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited, authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland. Other regional companies include Interactive Brokers Hong Kong and Interactive Brokers Australia.

The protection follows the company. At Interactive Brokers LLC, SIPC covers up to US$500,000, of which no more than US$250,000 in cash, plus an excess policy with underwriters at Lloyd's of London for up to another US$30 million (US$900,000 cash). At IBKR UK, the FSCS covers eligible claims up to £85,000 if the firm fails. At IBKR Ireland, the Investor Compensation Scheme pays 90% of a loss up to €20,000 per investor. The UK and Irish companies hold some of your positions with Interactive Brokers LLC, and those are covered by SIPC.

These schemes cover a broker's failure, not falling markets, and IBKR isn't a bank, so cash with it isn't a bank deposit.

An IBKR account can hold cash in many currencies at once, and IBKR says you can deposit and trade in up to 29 of them. You can be paid in one currency, keep it, and buy shares priced in another without opening a second account.

Converting yourself costs 0.20 basis points (0.002%) of the amount with a US$2 minimum. If you buy a share in a currency you don't hold, IBKR converts automatically and adds 0.03% to the exchange rate instead, with no separate commission. Converting €10,000 to dollars (about US$11,193) therefore costs the US$2 minimum manually, or about US$3.36 automatically; the automatic route is cheaper only below about US$6,700.

Deposits must come from an account in your own name: IBKR generally rejects third-party payments and doesn't accept cash, charging 1% (at least US$50) on any physical cash deposit.

On the Fixed plan, US shares cost US$0.005 a share, with a US$1 minimum and a cap of 1% of the trade: 100 shares at US$25 cost US$1.00. Interactive Brokers LLC also offers IBKR Lite, with no commission on US exchange-listed shares and ETFs; Lite pays less interest on cash (IBKR's benchmark minus 1.5% rather than minus 0.5% on the Pro plan).

European shares in euros cost 0.05% of the trade with a €3 minimum, and UK shares in pounds 0.05% with a £3 minimum, so trades up to 6,000 cost the minimum. The UK adds 0.5% stamp duty on UK share purchases. The Tiered plan has lower minimums but adds exchange and clearing fees.

Withdrawals are free twice a calendar month, then US$1 by ACH or US$10 by wire for dollars, €1 by SEPA or €8 by wire for euros, and £1 by BACS or £7 by wire for pounds, plus any fees your bank or its correspondent bank charges.

IBKR pays no interest on the first US$10,000, €10,000 or £8,000 (or the equivalent in other currencies), and the threshold applies to each currency separately. Above it, accounts worth more than US$100,000 earned 3.38% on dollars, 2.029% on euros and 3.524% on pounds on 10 November 2026 on the Pro plan; smaller accounts earn proportionally less.

IBKR's own euro examples: an account worth €20,000 with €5,000 cash earns 0%, €80,000 with €20,000 cash earns 0.773% overall, and €320,000 with €80,000 cash 1.495%. Rates follow IBKR's benchmark for each currency, so they move with central bank rates.

In the year after your first deposit, IBKR adds US$1 of Interactive Brokers Group Class A shares for every US$300 of net deposits, or the equivalent in another currency, up to US$1,000. Cash and assets transferred in both count, at fair market value. There's no minimum deposit.

Each deposit's shares are worked out at IBKR's closing share price that day and appear as a Welcome Share Balance, updated daily. At the end of the year the share count is fixed. You can receive the award once, and the referrer's account must still be open on the day you fund yours.

US$1 per US$300 is about 0.33% in any currency: US$10,000 of net deposits earns US$33.33 of IBKR shares, €10,000 about €33 and £10,000 about £33. The US$1,000 cap needs US$300,000, about €268,000 or £224,000 at the European Central Bank's rates on 9 November 2026 (€1 = US$1.1193, €1 = £0.8343).

If you think in a currency other than dollars, the value of the award moves with two things: IBKR's share price and your currency against the dollar. Each batch is locked for a year, so you can't sell if either turns against you, though you do receive dividends and voting rights meanwhile.

Against costs, the award on 10,000 pays for 33 minimum-size US share trades at US$1 on the Fixed plan, or eleven €3 European trades. Worth collecting on an account you'd open anyway; too small to justify moving money or changing your plans.

Take money out during the award year and IBKR takes shares back, oldest first, in proportion to the withdrawal, whatever the share price that day. In the terms' example, US$30,000 deposited at a US$50 share price earns 2 shares, and withdrawing US$15,000 the next day returns 1, halving the award to US$50. After the year, later withdrawals don't change the count.

Each award can't be sold, transferred to another broker or used to settle an options position for a year from its award date. If the account is closed or falls out of good standing before then, the unvested shares are forfeited. IBKR can also sell award shares to cover a margin shortfall, hold some back for tax, and reclaim shares or their value later if it finds the terms weren't met.

The terms don't say what happens if you move country during the year. Because your account belongs to the IBKR company for your legal residence, a move can mean a new application and a transfer of assets to another IBKR company, and a transfer out of the account in the first year takes shares back. Ask IBKR before moving anything.

IBKR's terms make tax on the award your responsibility, and IBKR can hold back shares to cover any tax it must withhold. The only country they spell out is the US: for US tax residents, the shares' fair market value when each lock ends is ordinary income, which IBKR reports on Form 1099-MISC.

Elsewhere, local rules decide whether the award is income when granted, when it vests or only when sold. IBKR's shares are US shares, so their dividends have US tax withheld at a rate that depends on whether your country has a tax treaty with the US. Note each award's value on its grant and lock-end dates for your tax return, and ask a tax adviser where you're tax resident if you're unsure.

On 10 November 2026, IBKR Mobile was rated 4.5 on the US App Store (11,622 ratings) and 4.6 on Google Play (77,800 reviews worldwide, more than 5 million downloads); the simpler IBKR GlobalTrader was rated 4.3 on the US App Store (223 ratings). Trustpilot gave Interactive Brokers 3.0 from 5,573 reviews, with 43% five-star and 29% one-star.

The complaints repeat across countries: lockouts and two-factor checks at login, repeated requests for documents and selfies, some applications refused without a clear reason, money held during security reviews, slow support and slow transfers from other brokers. The praise is mostly for costs and the range of markets and currencies.

You need to be 18 for a cash account and 21 for margin. Have a passport, national ID card or driving licence, and proof of address such as a utility bill or bank statement; IBKR may ask for more depending on your country. It doesn't publish an approval time.

Start from our link, choose a taxable individual or joint account, and fund it by bank transfer from an account in your name, in a currency IBKR accepts for your country, or by transferring shares in.

To leave, sell or transfer out your holdings, then close the account in Client Portal under Settings, Account Configuration, Close Account. Closing while award shares are still locked forfeits them.

It suits people paid or saving in more than one currency, expats who want one account that isn't tied to a single country's local broker, investors buying US, European or UK shares regularly, and anyone moving a taxable portfolio from another broker, who earns the award on the value transferred.

Skip it if you live in one of the seven excluded countries or would be opened with IBKR Canada or IBKR India; if you mainly want a retirement or tax-advantaged account, which the award doesn't cover; if you expect to withdraw most of the money within a year or move country soon; or if you want a simple app with phone support.