IBKR Interest Rates
Clients may earn interest on positive settled cash balances, i.e. uninvested cash in your account. The amount that you earn depends on the blended annual rate for which you are eligible. The blended annual rate is applied to the uninvested cash in your account, while balances below a certain threshold will earn no interest.
The eligible rate payable is based on:
For example, clients with a NAV of more than USD 100,000 (or an equivalent value in other currencies) earn an annual rate of 4.33% on their USD cash balances above USD 10,000.
Clients with a NAV of less than USD 100,000 (or an equivalent value in other currencies) will receive a lower annual rate, this rate increases the closer your NAV is to USD 100,000. Interest will not be payable on the first USD 10,000 (or the relevant value in other currencies) of uninvested cash balances. This means that the overall amount of interest payable to you will be a blended rate, i.e. a combination of the rate payable on your cash balance below USD 10,000, and the rate that is payable on balance above those values. For illustration, please see examples in the table below, or for a more accurate estimation please use the calculator provided below.
All account types are eligible to earn interest. The balances across multiple Interactive Brokers accounts will not be consolidated. While NAV is aggregated across multiple currencies, the interest is calculated on each currency holding and the USD 10,000 (or the relevant value in other currencies) threshold, below which no interest is payable, applies to each currency holding.
NAV adjusted blended annual interest rates based on 4.33% interest paid on USD cash balances above USD 10,000:
| 4.33% | Blended Annual Rate Paid (USD) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Account Cash Balance (USD) | NAV 50k | NAV 90k | NAV > 100k |
| 1,000,000 | — | — | # |
| 100,000 | — | — | # |
| 50,000 | # | # | # |
| 25,000 | # | # | # |
| 0 - 10,000 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Please use the Interest Rate Calculator below to check the estimated rate for different NAVs, cash balances and currencies.
| Scenario | Interactive Brokers | Bank of America | Citi | E-Trade | JP Morgan | Schwab | Wells Fargo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAV = $20,000 Cash = $5,000 |
0.000%* | 0.010% | 0.030% | 0.010% | 0.020% | 0.200% | 0.260% |
| NAV = $80,000 Cash = $20,000 |
1.732%* | 0.010% | 0.030% | 0.010% | 0.020% | 0.200% | 0.260% |
| NAV = $320,000 Cash = $80,000 |
3.789%* | 0.010% | 0.060% | 0.010% | 0.020% | 0.200% | 0.260% |
* Cash held in the commodities segment of an account does not earn interest. Rates are subject to change.
Rates as of October 3, 2024. Source: bankofamerica.com, citi.com, us.etrade.com, jpmorgan.com, schwab.com, wellsfargoadvisors.com
Interest rates shown are based on standard brokerage account or bank balances for customers located in Greenwich, CT. Interest rates may vary depending on location of customers.
Interactive Brokers LLC is a U.S. Broker/Dealer and not a Bank, as such Interactive Brokers’ accounts are not eligible for FDIC coverage, but are insured through SIPC. For additional information about SIPC coverage please visit www.sipc.org.
BM = IBKR Benchmark Rate. For more information, see IBKR Benchmark Rates.
| Currency | Tier | Rate Paid |
|---|---|---|
| USD | 0 ≤ 10,000 | 0% |
| > 10,000 | 4.330% (BM - 0.5%) | |
| AED | 0 ≤ 35,000 | 0% |
| > 35,000 | 4.038% (BM - 0.75%) | |
| AUD | 0 ≤ 15,000 | 0% |
| 15,000 ≤ 150,000 | 3.787% (BM - 0.5%) | |
| > 150,000 | 4.037% (BM - 0.25%) | |
| CAD | 0 ≤ 13,000 | 0% |
| > 13,000 | 3.120% (BM - 0.5%) | |
| CHF | 0 ≤ 10,000 | 0% |
| > 10,000 | 0.328% (BM - 0.5%) | |
| CNH | 0 ≤ 70,000 | 0% |
| > 70,000 | 0.50% | |
| CZK | 0 ≤ 250,000 | 0% |
| > 250,000 | 2.078% (BM - 2%) | |
| DKK | 0 ≤ 75,000 | 0% |
| > 75,000 | 2.323% (BM - 0.5%) | |
| EUR | 0 ≤ 10,000 | 0% |
| > 10,000 | 2.632% (BM - 0.5%) | |
| GBP | 0 ≤ 8,000 | 0% |
| > 8,000 | 4.533% (BM - 0.5%) | |
| HKD | 0 ≤ 78,000 | 0% |
| > 78,000 | 2% 2,3 | |
| HUF | 0 ≤ 3,500,000 | 0% |
| > 3,500,000 | 3.253% (BM - 3%) | |
| ILS | All | 0% |
| INR | All | 0% |
| JPY | 0 ≤ 5,000,000 | 0% |
| > 5,000,000 | -0.143% (BM - 0.25%) | |
| KRW | 0 ≤ 12,000,000 | 0% |
| > 12,000,000 | 1.750% (BM - 1.5%) | |
| MXN | 0 ≤ 200,000 | 0% |
| > 200,000 | 6.849% (BM - 4%) | |
| NOK | 0 ≤ 100,000 | 0% |
| > 100,000 | 2.372% (BM - 2%) | |
| NZD | 0 ≤ 15,000 | 0% |
| > 15,000 | 1.856% (BM - 2.5%) | |
| PLN | 0 ≤ 400,000 | 0% |
| > 400,000 | 3.964% (BM - 2%) | |
| SAR | 0 ≤ 35,000 | 0% |
| > 35,000 | 4.423% (BM - 0.75%) | |
| SEK | 0 ≤ 110,000 | 0% |
| > 110,000 | 2.958% (BM - 0.5%) | |
| SGD | 0 ≤ 14,000 | 0% |
| > 14,000 | 2.182% (BM - 1%) | |
| TRY | 0 ≤ 250,000 | 0% |
| > 250,000 | 5% | |
| ZAR | 0 ≤ 150,000 | 0% |
| > 150,000 | 6.926% (BM - 1%) |
Interest accrues daily. IBKR posts the interest payments on a monthly basis on the third business day of the following month. IBKR uses a blended rate based on the tiers, and the tiers on which interest rates are based are subject to change without prior notification.
For balances held in JPY or RUB, IBKR may apply an effective negative rate to long balances held. The negative rate applied to accounts holding these currencies is the same regardless of account size. For other currencies in which the effective rate is less than zero, the interest paid is 0%.
Clients holding large cash positions with both substantial long and short balances may benefit from a special cash investment program offered by IBKR that utilizes forex exchange transactions known as FX swaps.
Eligible IBKR clients can subscribe to an auto-swap program that authorises IBKR to execute transactions systematically in the foreign exchange market. These transactions can improve the overall interest rate benefits/costs for clients with large long/short positions in a multi-currency account. This program offers no benefit to accounts with a single currency or all currency balances that are either long or short.
A foreign exchange ("FX") swap is a transaction strategy wherein one enters into a currency trade for one value date (typically the date following the trade date, in FX jargon, 'Tomorrow', or 'TOM') and reverses the transaction on the subsequent date (typically, trade date + 2 days, or 'NEXT'). The price differential between the two transactions represents the interbank differential of the two currencies' independent yield curves. The FX swap market, also called an FX roll, is a very rate efficient market. Qualifying clients may benefit from a netting effect on their pre-trade balances are combined with the transaction proceeds. The investor's cash is invested via the swap market, typically with 2-10 bps spreads per currency, rather than being held in IBKR's default mechanisms for coding and protecting client cash.
This strategy is considered a sophisticated investment strategy. It is only available to qualifying investors with cash balances of at least 10M USD or equivalent and those with a "professional" categorisation in the UK, EU, and most regulatory jurisdictions across the Asia-Pacific. In the US, investors must qualify as an Eligible Contract Participant (ECP) to enroll in the program.
For more information please contact our swaps desk at FXSwaps@IBKR.com or refer to our FAQs or Knowledge Base.
Disclosures