Interactive Brokers ACAT Fee Reimbursement
At this time, Interactive Brokers does not reimburse the account transfer fee (ACAT) for moving
a taxable or non-taxable brokerage account from another broker.
As an alternative, Charles Schwab will
reimburse you up to $100 of your broker’s transfer fee.
Balance transferred must be at least $10,000.
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Charles Schwab review.
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Desktop Trading
The crown jewel for Interactive Brokers is perhaps its desktop software, which is free for all clients. Called Trader Workstation, it has many professional-level features. It’s impossible to discuss them all, but we’ll try to point out some of the highlights.
There are two basic setups: mosaic and classic. Although classic is the older layout, we found it powerful and easy to use. Either choice offers a lot of customization and tools.
Charting can be done either in a small window or in full-screen mode. The software delivers more than one hundred technical indicators, several drawing tools, multiple timeframes, 30-second intervals, a great deal of customization, and the ability to save a chart as a template for later use.
A right-click on a chart produces a small menu with several choices. Buy and sell buttons are displayed along with icons for alerts, a quote window, company fundamentals, time & sales data, and option chains.
The order ticket appears in the top-left portion of the program. While it is there by default, it can be moved by unlocking the layout (the unlock button appears at the top right of the platform). Direct-access routing is enabled, and extended-hours trading can be selected. In the top-right corner of the trade ticket is a drop-down menu for adding many features for the entered ticker symbol, such as Level II data.
Another handy feature on the platform is iBot. This is an artificial intelligence that can answer some questions. During our testing, it failed to answer complicated questions such as, “When does the Fed release data on interest rates?”
Besides its desktop platform, the brokerage firm also has a client portal for basic account management and limited trading ability. There’s a browser platform with simple charting and direct-access routing.
Mobile Platform
The IB mobile app has a lot of powerful features not found on other phone or tablet platforms. For example, iBot makes an appearance. The order form delivers bracket, take-profit, and stop-loss orders. An order can be tagged for extended hours, and duration choices include GTC and at-the-opening. Despite these nice features, there is no direct-access routing.
A chart on the app has up to five years of price data, three display choices (mountain, bar, and candlesticks), and several technical indicators. The smallest interval is one minute. Company events can be overlaid, and we like horizontal mode.
Another highlight is a wheel-entry order system. It’s possible to select a limit price by scrolling in the left column and then modifying the price in the next column with bid and ask adjustments. Columns on the right side display order sizes and cash values. The middle screen has the final buy and sell buttons.
Despite all these strengths, there are some features we were hoping to find but didn’t. There is no mobile check deposit, no streaming video news (there are some on-demand videos), no mutual fund trading, and no funds transfer of any kind.
Cash Management
Interactive Brokers has a debit Mastercard that is free. Purchases above $1,000 must be pre-authorized, a slight nuisance. The card works with Android and Apple Pay services. Checkwriting is not available, and ATM fees are not reimbursed.
IBKR Pro free cash balances above $10,000 earn high interest (if total account value exceeds $100,000).
Trading Option Contracts
Derivatives can be traded on the mobile app, browser platform, and the desktop system. The latter of the three has the best tools. Orders can be routed to specific option venues. Chains on the desktop platform display calls and puts, and there are some pre-programmed multi-leg strategies.
The best highlight in this category is the collection of option tools the desktop software delivers. We found a probability lab, several volatility tools, a strategy performance graph, Greek values, rollover and writing tools, a strategy lab, and even more.
Updated on 4/13/2026.
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