How to avoid fees on IBKR for withdrawing

Investing / Funding & Currency conversions
1

Hello everyone,

I am unsure whether there are any fees associated with the following transactions, and I would appreciate clarification:

  • Funding my IBKR account via wire transfer from my Swiss bank in CHF to my IBKR account.
  • Withdrawing money from my IBKR account via wire transfer to another bank account in CHF or EUR after conversion.
  • Is it possible to receive money from an IBKR account to a Revolut account?

My Swiss bank charges high fees for international wire transfers from CHF accounts to EUR accounts. Therefore, I am considering making a transfer from my Swiss bank in CHF → IBKR CHF → Another bank account in CHF as a way to avoid fees.

Based on your experience, is this approach correct?

Thank you.

2

Free once per month. One more CHF withdrawal is rather expensive, SEPA EUR is 1 Euro.

CHF definitely not (the account is not in your name), EUR most probably not. I withdraw EUR from IB to my Yuh account.

1 Like
3

Generally IBKR doesn’t like it so much if you abuse them for currency conversion. I remember hearing about account terminations after warning. But I have used them before and got no warning.

There is a direct integration with Wise. The money transfers within hours.

Wise also has quasi bank accounts in multiple currencies, with which you can send and receive money in your name. Some businesses still don’t work with Wise, and block (e.g. Degiro) or are blocked by (Wise → Kraken, but Kraken → Wise works).

4

IBKR doesn’t like it if you use them only to convert currency. I would suggest to use Wise or Revolut because they specifically offer this service

You might get flagged in their systems.

5

Does anyone have a suggestion for a forex account forma small business? My employer buys more and more stuff in Euro and pays hefty spreads.

I asked IB’s customer service whether it is possible to open an account mainly for FOREX for a company that does no financial services but I haven’t heared back from them. Does wise offer specific Forex accounts?

6

Even on the free withdrawal, withdrawing CHF from IBKR to UBS sometimes incurs fees on the bank side 6chf, as they sometimes incorrectly flag the IBKR account as coming from outside the CHF zone. have to go to the bank to get this refunded which is a hassle. I think other banks may also incorrectly charge incoming fees too

7

One data point from me who regularly uses ibkr for this purpose - I have exchanged and withdrawn approximately half my portfolio value without any problems from ibkr. I’m regularly investing with ibkr, i.e. most months i make actual purchases too. So depending on the amounts involved and your portfolio size i might not worry about it

8

Wise for Business — Eröffne ein internationales Geschäftskonto in wenigen Minuten.<!-- --> - Wise wise does have business accounts.

1 Like
9

Yes - I‘ve done it with GBP a couple of times.

Shouldn’t be a problem.

Revolut offer an account in your name with a dedicated IBAN number - it’s a simple SEPA transfer, no different than to your Yuh account.

No problem either - same as for EUR.

Caveat: it’s a British IBAN, so for CHF it will likely not be a domestic/local transfer but go through SWIFT (i.e. may cost a few francs in intermediary fees, even if it is free on IBKR’S and Revolut’s end).

They likely don’t - if you transfer as a SEPA transfer (in EUR). That should only cost a few cent at many (most?) Swiss banks.

What they don’t charge in fees though, the Swiss bank will likely give you a less favourable exchange rate compared to IBKR or Revolut.

10

I used my Swiss bank in CHF → IBKR CHF → convert to EUR → Another bank account in EUR

I did it always in a big bulk, like 10k-20k so not really frequent (1-4 times a year). I’ve never had a problem. But reading the comments above…

1 Like
11

I finally got a answer from IBKR:

IBKR does not charge any fees for deposits and allows one free withdrawal per month. Additional withdrawals in a calendar month in CHF are charged with 11,00 CHF.

1 Like
12

thats clearly started on their website

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13

I received a warning while doing exactly that at some point (Interactive Brokers: Currency conversion warning), but since then I never cashed the money directly out after the conversion (mainly money market funds). If you cannot / do not want do that and need the money always immediately, I would recommend https://amnistreasury.com/ (my current favourite), Revolut Business, or Wise Business.

14

I see this too now (6 CHF) at UBS - it never happened before.

15

you would need to go to the bank and ask for a refund as its a domestic transfer from IBKR in CHF from within Switzerland (according to IBKR). UBS needs to add that account to their list so it can get exempt from future charges.

Be good to know which other banks mistakenly add this charge and treat it as though its coming outside the CHF zone. Has anyone recently transferred CHF from IBKR to the app banks like YUH, Neon, Alpian?

16

For a start, I did send a message in E-Banking to the Customer Service about it and am awaiting a reaction. In the meantime, I can withdraw to Postfinance if needed, I haven seen it there.

Edit: After two weeks, no reply from UBS to my customer desk request. Interesting.
I’ve withdrawn something to Postfinance, and there, there were no fees.

17

„I received an email from IBKR who stated that local transfer isn’t supported for CHF. They didn’t charge anything for the transfer. So, it’s UBS that’s charging incoming payments.“

Someone on Reddit