Been using Scottrade for 15+ years but have seen IB commercials lately on 24-hr foreign market trading so decided to check it out.

Was surprised to find that IB's margin interest rates were much lower than Scottrade (like 1% compared to 6%). Big selling point for me.

However I played around with a free trial of IB and the web client looks clunky - my watch list doesn't even show the name of the company.

For those IB users - what's your thoughts?

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Posted by dabigfella

Member since Mar 2016

6687 posts

Posted on 3/14/17 at 11:30 am to BurningHeart

I use it, etrade pro is a better platform if you want my honest opinion, but the fees involved make IB a better choice for me. If you don't have enough money you're going to pay for all the various streaming data, not much but $1.50 here and there monthly. Their fees are awesome. The only thing that annoys me is the login everytime I have to get fingerprint approval on my cellphone and its annoying but I understand its for my safety. Customer service also sucks, I had etrade platinum and they would pick up right away, IB is very slow customer service, but again I dont call in much if at all.

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Posted by BurningHeart

Member since Jan 2017

9521 posts

Posted on 3/14/17 at 11:41 am to dabigfella

Thanks for the input. I'm considering switching to IB based on the margin fees.

Also see that IB allows option execution via the web. With Scottrade I have to go through the process of a phone call which can last 5-10 minutes.

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Posted by dabigfella

Member since Mar 2016

6687 posts

Posted on 3/14/17 at 11:49 am to BurningHeart

Yea like I said the only thing that annoys me is you have to download ib key app on your phone and every time you login anywhere it needs thumbprint approval. Also be careful man they have monthly trade commission minimums unless you have $100k+ if you're not an active trader

This post was edited on 3/14/17 at 11:50 am

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