Interactive Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

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Topic Author
Ken.
Posts: 137
Joined: Wed Sep 07, 2011 1:19 am

Interactive Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

Post by Ken. »

I recently opened an account with Interactive Brokers just for sending money overseas and am about to do this for the first time. I transferred some funds into ibkr ok, but am not sure how I should send the money to my overseas bank.

Based on what I read you get one free transfer free per month. The way I am doing it, I went to the Transfer & Pay page where it gave me two options, ACH Transfer, and Bank Wire. I chose bank wire and it displayed a page for entering your bank information including Bank Country. It also asked whether you bank accepts US dollars. I assume you should select 'No' there as you would get the better ibkr rate rather than whatever rate the bank uses.

Anyway, is this the way to do it through Interactive Brokers?
Last edited by Ken. on Sun Sep 19, 2021 3:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
EddyB
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Re: Interative Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

Post by EddyB »

I deposit dollars from my US bank (ACH push), convert them to euros, then send euros to a bank in Europe via a SEPA payment. May depend on currency and destination.
Topic Author
Ken.
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Joined: Wed Sep 07, 2011 1:19 am

Re: Interactive Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

Post by Ken. »

Thanks. I did the ACH push already, but for withdrawing to my overseas bank I wasn't sure whether you have convert currency first before sending or just send it as is and ibkr automatically do the conversion.

Based on the below thread it seems you should convert it first then send it.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=317734&start=50

Is that right?
Last edited by Ken. on Sun Sep 19, 2021 3:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
Marseille07
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Re: Interative Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

Post by Marseille07 »

Ken. wrote: Fri Aug 06, 2021 9:51 pm Thanks. I did the ACH push already, but for withdrawing to my overseas bank I wasn't sure whether you have convert currency first before sending or just send it as is and ibkr automatically do the conversion.

Based on the below thread it seems you should convert it first then send it.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=317734&start=50

Is that right?
Well it depends on the other bank right? Which currency(ies) do they accept? You should convert to that first, then send.
rchmx1
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Re: Interative Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

Post by rchmx1 »

Things are definitely different depending upon which country you're sending to etc. For instance, to send pesos to an MX bank from my US account, I had to add an MX address to my account via a somewhat convoluted process. Sounds like that isn't necessary for other destinations. For USD.MXN there was no option for sending USD. If I simply go to the withdraw page to initiate a transfer that way, I enter the amount of pesos I want to send, and IBKR does the conversion process in the back ground and transfers the requested amount of pesos into my MX bank account, debiting the requisite amount of USD from my IBKR account.

That's the process I follow for my normal monthly living expense transfers. You can also purchase foreign currency via the web interface or via Trader Workstation. I'll be using the latter method for an up coming large transfer (car purchase), since the withdraw method when using a margin loan offers about 15% less than if I were to withdraw in USD, for some odd reason.
Topic Author
Ken.
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Re: Interactive Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

Post by Ken. »

Marseille07 wrote: Fri Aug 06, 2021 10:14 pm Well it depends on the other bank right? Which currency(ies) do they accept? You should convert to that first, then send.
rchmx1 wrote: Sat Aug 07, 2021 9:50 am Things are definitely different depending upon which country you're sending to etc. For instance, to send pesos to an MX bank from my US account, I had to add an MX address to my account via a somewhat convoluted process. Sounds like that isn't necessary for other destinations. For USD.MXN there was no option for sending USD. If I simply go to the withdraw page to initiate a transfer that way, I enter the amount of pesos I want to send, and IBKR does the conversion process in the back ground and transfers the requested amount of pesos into my MX bank account, debiting the requisite amount of USD from my IBKR account.

That's the process I follow for my normal monthly living expense transfers. You can also purchase foreign currency via the web interface or via Trader Workstation. I'll be using the latter method for an up coming large transfer (car purchase), since the withdraw method when using a margin loan offers about 15% less than if I were to withdraw in USD, for some odd reason.
Thanks. It's taken some time to do this. I was intending to send a small amount first, $100 just for testing, but the web interface didn't allow me to convert it to my destination currency, presumably because it is too small. I selected the destination currency but the submit button was disabled. So I did another Bill Pay from my bank with a larger amount, but it won't be processed until the 20th, so I'll try converting again when it arrives.
Last edited by Ken. on Sun Sep 19, 2021 3:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
rchmx1
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Re: Interative Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

Post by rchmx1 »

Ken. wrote: Sat Aug 14, 2021 3:27 am
Thanks. It's taken some time to do this. I was intending to send a small amount first, $100 just for testing, but the web interface didn't allow me to convert it to my destination currency, presumably because it is too small. I selected the destination currency but the submit button was disabled. So I did another Bill Pay from my bank with a larger amount, but it won't be processed until the 20th, so I'll try converting again when it arrives.
I would kind of surprise me if it had to be above a certain dollar amount, which makes me wonder if it's something else. How long did you wait to try the conversion after completing your first transfer into IBKR? Because it takes a few days for money to be available to convert and transfer out if you have a cash account. And I assume you had linked your foreign bank account to your IBKR account prior to attempting the conversion? I ask, because when I first opened my IBKR account I tried to convert USD to MX Pesos and had a similar experience to the one you describe. After that I learned that I had to link my MX bank account first before I would be able to perform this specific conversion. MX Pesos aren't treated as a "typical" currency to convert to by IBKR, for whatever reason.
Topic Author
Ken.
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Re: Interactive Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

Post by Ken. »

rchmx1 wrote: Mon Aug 16, 2021 5:48 pm I would kind of surprise me if it had to be above a certain dollar amount, which makes me wonder if it's something else. How long did you wait to try the conversion after completing your first transfer into IBKR? Because it takes a few days for money to be available to convert and transfer out if you have a cash account. And I assume you had linked your foreign bank account to your IBKR account prior to attempting the conversion? I ask, because when I first opened my IBKR account I tried to convert USD to MX Pesos and had a similar experience to the one you describe. After that I learned that I had to link my MX bank account first before I would be able to perform this specific conversion. MX Pesos aren't treated as a "typical" currency to convert to by IBKR, for whatever reason.
My first transfer has been in my account for a few months. I did not have my foreign bank set up so I set it up. Thanks for that.

I then went to the Convert Currency page but now it's not displaying the "Convert Currency" section on the page properly. It displays Submit and Preview buttons but it' not displaying anything above that, just a spinner that goes on forever indicating it's not displayed yet. I tried a different browser but get the same result. I'll have to try again tomorrow.
Last edited by Ken. on Sun Sep 19, 2021 3:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
Topic Author
Ken.
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Re: Interactive Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

Post by Ken. »

Just an update

The funds finally went through but it took some time, especially the first time. Not the most user friendly experience. But now I've done it once, I know what to do in future.

Here is my experience the first time through.

Bill Pay request submited on 08/14. A check had to be made and sent by snail mail because the amount was greater than $5000
Check Arrived at ibkr on 08/23.
Funds became available on 09/01 due to a 6 business day hold for checks.
Filed a Help Desk Ticket 09/01. Currency Conversion not working. Nothing happens and there is no error message or any info given to the user as to why.
09/02 Help Desk replied that that it was because I had to allow for a $2 fee when doing the conversion.
09/16 Finally sent the wire (took only a few hours to arrive at my bank)

In future I will just have to remember to send the funds from my bank to ibkr 18 days ahead of time, or just send amounts not greater than $5000 at a time.
Last edited by Ken. on Sun Sep 19, 2021 3:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
hotscot
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Re: Interative Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

Post by hotscot »

I send wires several times a year to my supplier's bank in Munich.
I send in USD cause that's what they ask.
I send from my WF account.
$45. I charge to my supplier.
Routine and trivial.
EddyB
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Re: Interative Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

Post by EddyB »

hotscot wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 12:05 pm I send wires several times a year to my supplier's bank in Munich.
I send in USD cause that's what they ask.
I send from my WF account.
$45. I charge to my supplier.
Routine and trivial.
If that doesn’t involve a currency conversion (you haven’t said it does), it wouldn’t address what Ken seems to be trying to achieve. If he needs to convert the currency somewhere along the way, the best bank rates I found when last I looked were 0.5% worse than the rate available at IBKR (although there’s a minimum (€20,000 in my case) to get those rates).
hotscot
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Re: Interative Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

Post by hotscot »

Occasionally I do a conversion to Euros.
I just take the rate on the day.
If I was sending many millions yes I guess it could be significant.

I don't see enough information to know if WF rate is better, or not, than Interative Brokers.
I suppose for me, it's more about the convenience.

(Actually, who are Interative Brokers? Can't seem to find an organization called that. Do they have a web?)
EddyB
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Re: Interative Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

Post by EddyB »

hotscot wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 1:28 pm Occasionally I do a conversion to Euros.
I just take the rate on the day.
If I was sending many millions yes I guess it could be significant.

I don't see enough information to know if WF rate is better, or not, than Interative Brokers.
I suppose for me, it's more about the convenience.

(Actually, who are Interative Brokers? Can't seem to find an organization called that. Do they have a web?)
I’ve been assuming the OP meant https://www.interactivebrokers.com. I also assumed that by “WF” you meant Wells Fargo, but maybe Wake Forest offers a good deal on cross-border transfers.
Topic Author
Ken.
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Re: Interactive Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

Post by Ken. »

Yes, I meant Interactive Brokers. I've updated the title. Thanks.
pilotmath
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Re: Interactive Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

Post by pilotmath »

Any experience with interactive brokers transfers back from MXN to USD? I'm considering buying real estate in Mexico, but I want a clear exit strategy to get the funds back to the US first. I'm a US Citizen with most assets in US...
giovannisumano
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Re: Interactive Brokers: How to Send Money Overseas?

Post by giovannisumano »

@rchmx1 Can you describe the process you did to add your mexican address to interactive brokers? I am trying to do the same and I am not able to find how to do it
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