Interest Rates
PRICING
Interest Rates
Earn Market Rate Interest on Your Instantly Available Cash Balances
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.
Rates and Tiers
The eligible rate payable is based on:
- The cash balance in your account;
- The overall value of your account (known as the Net Asset Value or NAV of your account);
- The currency in which your uninvested cash is held
Clients with a NAV of more than USD 100,000 (or an equivalent value in other currencies) earn an annual rate of 3.093% on their CAD cash balances above CAD 13,000, or 4.08% 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 CAD 13,000 or USD 10,000 (or the equivalent 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 CAD 13,000 or 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 equivalent value in other currencies) threshold, below which no interest is payable, applies to each currency holding.
Examples for USD Balances
NAV adjusted blended annual interest rates based on 4.08% interest paid on USD cash balances above USD 10,000:
| 4.08% | 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% |
Interest Rate Calculator
Estimate Interest Paid on Positive (Cash) Balances
Enter Cash Balance
Enter Net Asset Value
How Much Interest is Your Broker Paying You?
CAD Interest Rate Comparison (Examples)
| Scenario | Interactive Brokers | Questrade | TD Direct Investing | RBC Direct Investing | BMO Investorline | CIBC Investor's Edge | National Bank Direct Brokerage | Qtrade | Desjarding Online Brokerage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAV = CAD 20,000 Cash = CAD 5,000 |
0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.450% |
| NAV = CAD 80,000 Cash = CAD 50,000 |
1.493% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.700% |
| NAV = CAD 150,000 Cash = CAD 80,000 |
2.852% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.700% |
Rates as of November 11, 2024. Source: www.questrade.com, www.td.com/ca/en/investing/direct-investing,www.rbcdirectinvesting.com,www.bmo.com/en-ca/main/personal/investments/direct-investing/,
www.investorsedge.cibc.com/en/home.html, www.nbdb.ca, www.qtrade.ca/en/investor.html, www.disnat.com/en
Rates shown are for standard account types. Example assumes an FX conversion rate for USD.CAD of 1.35
USD Interest Rate Comparison (Examples)
| Scenario | Interactive Brokers | Questrade | TD Direct Investing | RBC Direct Investing | BMO Investorline | CIBC Investor's Edge | National Bank Direct Brokerage | Qtrade | Desjarding Online Brokerage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAV = USD 20,000 Cash = USD 5,000 |
0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.450% |
| NAV = USD 80,000 Cash = USD 50,000 |
2.611% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.700% |
| NAV = USD 150,000 Cash = USD 80,000 |
3.570% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.700% |
Rates as of November 11, 2024. Source: www.questrade.com, www.td.com/ca/en/investing/direct-investing,www.rbcdirectinvesting.com,www.bmo.com/en-ca/main/personal/investments/direct-investing/,
www.investorsedge.cibc.com/en/home.html, www.nbdb.ca, www.qtrade.ca/en/investor.html, www.disnat.com/en
Rates shown are for standard account types.
Global Interest Rates
BM = IBKR Benchmark Rate. For more information, see IBKR Benchmark Rates.
| Currency | Tier | Rate Paid |
|---|---|---|
| USD | 0 ≤ 10,000 | 0% |
| > 10,000 | 4.080% (BM - 0.5%) | |
| AED | 0 ≤ 35,000 | 0% |
| > 35,000 | 3.723% (BM - 0.75%) | |
| AUD | 0 ≤ 15,000 | 0% |
| 15,000 ≤ 150,000 | 3.856% (BM - 0.5%) | |
| > 150,000 | 4.106% (BM - 0.25%) | |
| CAD | 0 ≤ 13,000 | 0% |
| > 13,000 | 3.093% (BM - 0.5%) | |
| CHF | 0 ≤ 10,000 | 0% |
| > 10,000 | 0.325% (BM - 0.5%) | |
| CNH | 0 ≤ 70,000 | 0% |
| > 70,000 | 0.50% | |
| CZK | 0 ≤ 250,000 | 0% |
| > 250,000 | 1.837% (BM - 2%) | |
| DKK | 0 ≤ 75,000 | 0% |
| > 75,000 | 2.160% (BM - 0.5%) | |
| EUR | 0 ≤ 10,000 | 0% |
| > 10,000 | 2.669% (BM - 0.5%) | |
| GBP | 0 ≤ 8,000 | 0% |
| > 8,000 | 4.205% (BM - 0.5%) | |
| HKD | 0 ≤ 78,000 | 0% |
| > 78,000 | 3.062% (BM - 0.75%) | |
| HUF | 0 ≤ 3,500,000 | 0% |
| > 3,500,000 | 3.230% (BM - 3%) | |
| ILS | All | 0% |
| INR | All | 0% |
| JPY | 0 ≤ 5,000,000 | 0% |
| > 5,000,000 | -0.152% (BM - 0.25%) | |
| KRW | 0 ≤ 12,000,000 | 0% |
| > 12,000,000 | 1.750% (BM - 1.5%) | |
| MXN | 0 ≤ 200,000 | 0% |
| > 200,000 | 6.971% (BM - 4%) | |
| NOK | 0 ≤ 100,000 | 0% |
| > 100,000 | 2.386% (BM - 2%) | |
| NZD | 0 ≤ 15,000 | 0% |
| > 15,000 | 2.040% (BM - 2.5%) | |
| PLN | 0 ≤ 400,000 | 0% |
| > 400,000 | 3.801% (BM - 2%) | |
| RUB* | 0 ≤ 750,000 | - 11.00% |
| > 750,000 | - 11.00% | |
| SAR | 0 ≤ 35,000 | 0% |
| > 35,000 | 5.038% (BM - 0.75%) | |
| SEK | 0 ≤ 110,000 | 0% |
| > 110,000 | 2.218% (BM - 0.5%) | |
| SGD | 0 ≤ 14,000 | 0% |
| > 14,000 | 2.031% (BM - 1%) | |
| TRY | 0 ≤ 250,000 | 0% |
| > 250,000 | 5% | |
| ZAR | 0 ≤ 150,000 | 0% |
| > 150,000 | 7.153% (BM - 1%) |
NOTES:
- Due to restrictions imposed by Russia, IBKR clients cannot open or close positions on the Moscow Stock Exchange at this time.
- AS of July 28, 2022, any long or short RUB balances in an account auto-convert to USD or EUR, depending on the entity holding an account. Visit our Knowledge Base for additional info.
- As of June 21, 2024, we no longer receive pricing data for MOEX listed securities or securities with a MOEX listed component.
Additional Information
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. 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 utilises 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 accounts with 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
- IBKR may change these rates at any time, in its sole discretion. We will publish the current rates on a best-efforts basis. Interest rates may also vary by program or arrangement. Restrictions apply. The published rates are for direct clients of IBKR. Clients introduced through another broker may receive a different amount of interest (or no interest) at the election of the client’s introducing broker. Clients should contact their introducing broker about the rates that will apply to their account.
- Clients may earn interest on positive settled cash balances. If you fund before your account is approved, you may earn interest on cash in your account before your account is opened. Deposits will be returned without interest to applicants who are rejected.
