Interactive Brokers Vs. IG - Compare Trustworthiness, Capabilities, Fees and Legitimacy

Interactive Brokers is a global brokerage founded in 1978 that holds 11+ high tier financial licenses and provides discounted electronic trading services in nearly all the globe with access to more than 100,000+ financial instruments.

IG is a global broker established in 1974 that holds 8 reputable financial licenses and provides CFD trading on stocks, commodities, ETFs, indices, cryptocurrencies, bonds, futures, options along with real stocks through their share dealing account.

• Seasoned investors looking for a one-stop shop to cover a variety of needs
• Global investors who seek the most reliable discount service available
• Traders from intermediate to advanced level

• Professional traders looking to exploit their customisable platform and broad asset offering
• High volume traders that can offset their commission costs by trading in larger volumes

• SEC (United States)
• FINRA (United States)
• FCA (United Kingdom)
• ASIC (Australia)
• IIROC (Canada)
• MNB (Hungary)
• BSE (India)
• CBI (Ireland)
• FSA (Japan)
• CSSF (Luxembourg) CSSF
• MAS (Singapore)

• ASIC (Australia)
• FMA (New Zealand)
• NFA (United States)
• DFSA (United Arab Emirates)
• FINMA (Switzerland)
• MAS (Singapore)
• FFAJ (Japan)
• FSCA (South Africa)
• BMA (Bermuda)

• High regulation
• Exceptional number of investment instruments (Above 100,000+)
• Competitive discount fees

• Broad platform offering with high customisability and integrated news feeds
• Comprehensive asset offering with more than 10,000 + CFDs or real stocks and ETFs

• Complicated account opening process
• Platforms are not beginner friendly
• Narrow choice of deposit options (Mostly bank transfers)

• There are too many small costs such as custody, in-and-out-commissions in some cases, management fees, etc
• Their standard contracts can be too large some times for low volume traders

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• Valid identity document (Passport, ID Card, etc)
• Valid proof of residence document (Bank statement, utility bills)

All documents must be under the account holder's name.

• Valid identity document (Passport, ID Card, etc)
• Valid proof of residence document (Bank statement, utility bills)

All documents must be under the account holder's name.

• Bank Transfer
• ACH (US only)
• Check (US only)
• Debit Card (US only)
• BPAY (Australia only)

• Visa
• Mastercard
• Bank Transfer
• Paypal

AF, SY, SO, SD, LY, NG, BI.

SY, IR.

After 24 months of inactivity, IG charges an $18 monthly fee.

One free withdrawal per month, subsequent are $10 per withdrawal or equivalent

Commissions depend on market and residency:

• US residents are eligible for zero commission US stock trading. Else, for US stocks it is $0.005/share with a minimum $1 and maximum 1% of the trade value.
• European stocks have €3 minimum and 0.05% trade value.
• Forex commissions are volume based starting at 0.20 basis points of trade value or $2 minimum per trade, and going low as 0.08 basis points and $1.
• Options start at $0.25 per contract and go as low as $0.15 per contract.
• Futures start at $0.85 per contract and go as low as $0.25 per contract

Yes, they charge depending on the client’s account base currency and exchange location of the shares being traded. For example, for some clients US shares can have a minimum charge of $10 in-and-out.