C’mon, it’s Christmas time, let those who believe in Santa Claus believe in Zero Fees …
![]()
To be clear: I would never do business with a business that offers zero fees as obviously they'll go out of a business that actually costs them money to run. It's not that hard to wrap your head around this
“Zero Fees” is a different matter. The quotation marks essentially hide a mark-up compared to the usually cheaper competitors they compete with, as evidenced by @clon and their demonstration of a $10 difference between “zero fees” Revolut and (probably) cheapest IBKR for a 20k conversion.
The essentially 5 basis points difference – 10/20000 = 0.0005 = 0.05% = 5 bips – in the conversion rate gives you an indication of how tight fx margins are for banks. Of course, that would never stop Swissquote – let alone your standard Swiss bank – from charging you a fortune for that conversion. Like, 100 bips or so. Easy money!
Also, never forget: with the saved $10 in doing business with IBKR for converting USD 20k you’re already half way towards your gourmet/premium Döner in the city of Zurich. Imagine that!