Customer Service

Phone

IB offers 24-hour customer service via regional Customer Service Centers located through-out America, Europe and Asia. While there's an agent always available to assist with your inquiries, answers can oftentimes be found quickest and without a phone call directly from IB's website and Knowledge Base. The list of Quick Tips below contains responses to the most common questions and answers to others can be found by entering keywords associated with your inquiry into the search engine above.

Quick Tips    
How to Deposit Funds Via a Wire Transfer How to check the status of funding transactions How to Submit a General Inquiry Web Ticket
How to Deposit Funds Via an ACH Initiated by Interactive Brokers Introduction to the Trader Workstation IB Market Data Assistant
How to Deposit Funds Via a Check WebTrader: Introduction An Introduction to Forex (FX)
How to Transfer U.S. & Canadian Securities Positions Secure Login with Interactive Brokers Secure Code Card Setting Communication Preferences

 

Select your local time zone from the drop-down list below to determine which Service Center is currently available to take your call.

 Calls to Interactive Brokers' Service Desks may be recorded for quality control purposes.


Location Number Hours of Operation Menu Options
United States 1 (877) 442-2757 Toll free
1 (312) 542-6901 Direct dial		 08:00 - 20:00 (Mon - Fri) (America/New York)
13:00 - 19:00 (Sun) (America/New York)
 1 - New Accounts
2/1 - Phone Orders
2/2 - Trade Issues
2/3 - Funds & Banking
2/4 - Tax Documents
2/5 - General Inquiries
2/6 - Technical Support
Canada 1 (877) 745-4222 Toll free
1 (514) 847-3499 Direct dial		 08:00 - 17:30 (Mon - Fri) (America/New York)
 1 - New Accounts
2 - General Inquiries
Europe 00800-42-276537 Toll free
+41-41-726-9500 Direct dial		 02:00 - 14:00 (Mon - Fri) (America/New York)
 1 - New Accounts
2/1 - Phone Orders
2/2 - Trade Issues
2/3 - Funds & Banking
2/4 - General Inquiries
2/5 - Technical Support
Hong Kong +852-2156-7907 Direct dial 19:00 (Sun - Thu) - 04:00 (Mon - Fri) (America/New York)
 1 - New Accounts
2/1 - Phone Orders
2/2 - General Inquiries
2/3 - Technical Support
Australia +61 (2) 8093 7300 Direct dial 18:00 (Sun - Thu) - 03:00 (Mon - Fri) (America/New York)
India +91 22 61289888 Direct dial 21:30 (Sun - Thu) - 08:30 (Mon - Fri) (America/New York)
 1 - New Accounts
2/1 - Phone Orders
2/2 - General Inquiries / Grievances
2/3 - Technical Support
China +86 (21) 6086 8586 Direct dial 20:00 (Sun - Thu) - 05:00 (Mon - Fri) (America/New York)
 1 - New Accounts
2/1 - Phone Orders
2/2 - General Inquiries
2/3 - Technical Support
Japan +81 (3) 4588 9700 Direct dial 18:30 (Sun - Thu) - 03:30 (Mon - Fri) (America/New York)
 1 - New Accounts
2/1 - Phone Orders
2/2 - General Inquiries
2/3 - Technical Support


http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/p.php?f=customerService&p=contact

Chat

IB offers online chat service to both current and prospective clients delivered in a secure and authenticated manner. Existing clients may access chat upon login to Account Management. Prospective clients are provided chat access for application related inquiries through the Help Me! Link located directly within the application. When accessing chat, you'll be prompted to specify a topic and chat room in order to route your inquiry to a representative best suited to respond. Hours of operation are outlined below.

Chat Room Hours of Operation (EST)
General Inquiries Sunday 16:00 – Friday 20:00, excluding 19:30 – 20:30 Monday to Thursday
Funds & Banking Monday – Friday, 09:00 – 20:00
Technical Assistance Monday – Friday, 08:00 – 20:00
German Language Montag - Freitag, 3:00 – 11:30 (9:00 – 17:30 CET)

http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/p.php?f=customerService&p=chat

Email

IMPORTANT NOTE: Password, security device and account login issues can only be addressed by telephoning Customer Service and require verification of the account holder's identity. Please do not submit security related requests such as this via email.



Inbound communications sent via commercial E-mail are not supported due to security and spam concerns. Existing clients as well as clients in the application phase may submit formal inquiries via the Message Center located within Account Management or via the link below. Inquiries originating from either method will be responded to through the Message Center, however, communication preferences may be set to receive a response copy via email.

Prospective clients may also submit formal inquiries via the link below and will receive a response via the email address provided.

Formal inquiries submitted during standard hours of operation are generally responded to within 24 hours.


http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/p.php?f=customerService&p=email

Fax/Postal

Applicants may be required to submit photocopies of documentation evidencing their identity and/or address. Where supported, document submission via the scanning and emailing option is typically the most efficient method, and will make account review quicker. Regardless of the method submitted, applicants are encouraged to take the necessary steps to ensure that documents will be legible upon receipt.(1)

IB Entity Scan & Email Fax Postal
IB LLC newaccounts@interactivebrokers.com (312) 984-1017 Courier/Overnight/Postal
Interactive Brokers LLC
Document Processing
209 South LaSalle Street
10th Floor
Chicago, IL 60604
USA
IB UK newaccounts.uk@interactivebrokers.co.uk +41-41-726-9599 Courier/Overnight/Postal
Interactive Brokers
(U.K.) Limited
Attn: Doc Processing
Gotthardstrasse 3
6301 Zug
Switzerland
IB Canada Courier/Postal
Interactive Brokers
Canada Inc.
Attn: Doc Processing
1800 McGill College
Avenue, Suite 2106,
Montreal, Quebec H3A 3J6
Canada
IB (India) Pvt. Ltd. Courier/Postal
Interactive Brokers
(India) Pvt. Ltd.
A-605, Dynasty Business Park,
151 Andheri Kurla Road,
Andheri East
Mumbai 400059
India
IB Securities Japan, Inc newaccountsjp@interactivebrokers.com +81-3-4588-9749 Courier/Postal
New Accounts
Interactive Brokers
Securities Japan, Inc
4th Floor Tekko Kaikan
3-2-10
Nihonbashi Kayabacho
Chuo-Ku
Tokyo 103-0025
Japan

 

Notes:
  • [1] When scanning and emailing, please observe the following:
    • Send emails as text rather than HTML format. If possible, users of Microsoft Outlook emailer should disable RFT (rich-text format) encoding.
    • Only the following attachment types are accepted: .gif .tiff .tif .jpeg .jpg .png .bmp .pdf.
    • Limit the size of attachment to 10MB.
    • Limit the size of e-mail text to 2,000 characters. Emails longer than that will be truncated.

    When faxing:

    • Please enlarge documents to at least 125% of the normal size (up to 3/4 page-size) so we can read the document.
    • Please lighten the documents by one or two increments when copying or faxing.

http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/p.php?f=customerService&p=fax

Tips Best Service

IB offers a variety of ways to get assistance and information including phone support, email, and chat. While you can ask the same question using any of these channels, depending on the nature of your inquiry, you will get the best and most efficient service by using the methods recommended below.

Phone inquiries: recommended where there is time sensitivity, for example, a problem with an order or trade. In general, IB will answer our phone lines within a minute. Funding/Banking inquiries usually take longer. We suggest Ticket or Chat instead of phone for the following areas: funding, tax, statements, dividend & corporate actions

Inquiry/Trouble Ticket: a new secure form system, enables a question to be sent from Account Management that is delivered directly to our main Customer Service database system. From here, the question is routed to the specialist or team within IB's Customer Service that is certified in the particular area of inquiry. It is SMART routing for questions.
You will get an immediate reference number for the ticket, and your question will be allocated to a service agent usually within 2 hours. Where possible, we will also provide an answer within this timeframe, but even if additional research is needed, you will know who is handling your case, and be able to track its progress.

IB-Chat: our new chat service is accessible via Account Management. It is designed to connect you to the service specialist best qualified to answer your question. Because it is authenticated and uses secure communications, IB staff are able to provide account specific information in a secure manner. Web page content, conferencing, and feedback are all features of this new system; transcripts are available on demand. We particularly recommend IB-Chat for Funding/Banking and Account Application inquiries.

Email: Free format email communications are no longer supported due to the proliferation of spam, phishing, and other forms of fraudulent communications. If you do not already have an IB account, we kindly ask you submit your inquiry using the form available on our website: http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/general/contact/newContact/contact.php.

Existing customers should take advantage of the secure inquiry/trouble ticket system accessible through the Message Center within Account Management. Existing customers may also submit inquiries using the form above, with the response being routed to their Message Center. Urgent or time sensitive questions should never be submitted via this form.

Type of Request Recommended Form of Contact Response Time (estimated)
Trading
Trade Bust requests Phone under 30 minutes
Execution or Liquidation inquiries Phone real-time
Real-Time Margin/SMA inquiries Phone real-time
Review Positions, Order Status, or Order Routing problems Phone real-time
General Margin/SMA Questions Ticket/Chat within 1 day
How to Enter Specialty Orders such as Combos, Bracket, Conditional Orders Chat real-time
Funds & Banking
Wires and ACH Deposits and Withdrawal Questions Ticket/Chat same day
ACAT/ATON problems Ticket/Chat same day
Statements and Tax Forms questions (e.g. 1099) Ticket/Chat within 1 day
IRA Contributions/Distributions Ticket/Chat within 1 day
Credit/Debit Interest Ticket/Email within 1 day
Corporate Actions (Dividends, Mergers, Tenders, etc.) Ticket/Chat within 1 day
All other funding/banking questions Ticket/Email same day
All Other Topics
New Account Application questions Chat/Ticket real-time
Technical (login, java, TWS installation, etc) Chat/Phone real-time
Resetting Passwords (identity verification required) Phone only real-time
Problems with the Option Exercise Window Phone/Chat real-time
Market Data Subscription questions Ticket/Chat same day
Website problems Ticket same day
Account Upgrades and Trading Permissions Ticket/Chat same day
Fee Inquiries, Commissions, Cancellation fees, Market Data Charges Ticket/Email within 1 day
Basic Order Entry, Order Types, Symbol Entry, and Web Trader inquiries Chat/Ticket within 1 day (this information is also readily available on the IB website).
Pattern Day Trading inquiries Ticket/Chat same day
All other inquiries Ticket/Chat/Email within 1 day


Additional resources that you might find helpful:


http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/p.php?f=customerService&p=tips

IB's Bust Policy and Procedures

Limitation of Liability

IB WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY LIABILITY FOR RECEIPT OR PROCESSING OF ANY REQUESTS FOR A TRADE CANCELLATION ("BUST") SUBMITTED BY CUSTOMER. NOR WILL IB ACCEPT ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY TRADE CANCELLATION REQUEST THAT IS SUBMITTED TO AND SUBSEQUENTLY DENIED BY THE RELEVANT MARKET CENTER. MARKET CENTERS SET SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS FOR TRADE CANCELLATION REQUESTS, WHICH INCLUDE, AMONG OTHER THINGS, SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS REGARDING THE TRADES THAT ARE ELIGIBLE FOR CANCELLATION AS WELL AS FIXED TIME LIMITS WITHIN WHICH A REQUEST FOR TRADE CANCELLATION MUST BE SUBMITTED. IB WILL ATTEMPT, ON A BEST EFFORTS BASIS, TO ANALYZE AND FORWARD APPROPRIATE REQUESTS FOR TRADE CANCELLATION TO THE RELEVANT MARKET CENTER. IB CANNOT, HOWEVER, GUARANTEE THAT EVERY REQUEST FOR A TRADE CANCELLATION WILL BE ACCEPTED, SUBMITTED TO, REVIEWED BY OR GRANTED BY THE RELEVANT MARKET CENTER. IB WILL NOT COMPENSATE CUSTOMER FOR ANY TRADE CANCELLATION REQUESTS THAT ARE NOT ACCEPTED BY IB OR THE RELEVANT MARKET CENTER.

Notification Procedures

Customers who receive an execution which they believe to be clearly erroneous1 and who wish to have IB petition the exchange or market center to have the trade cancelled on their behalf are strongly encouraged to submit their request using the Trade Cancellation Request tool located within Account Management. While requests received via telephone will also be processed, such requests may involve connection wait times and entail information collection on the part of IB which, in the aggregate, may lessen the likelihood that the petition is submitted in time. Please note that IB does not support free format email communications and requests sent through the Help & Contacts link on the website are not intended for matters of urgency.


Trade Cancellation/Bust Fees

Exchanges and market centers often impose a fee for trade cancellation requests in addition to fees charged by IB. Customers are also encouraged to familiarize themselves with all fees associated with cancellation requests prior to initiating a request.


Cancellation Requests Where IB Customers are on Both Sides of the Trade

As exchanges and market centers generally opt not to rule on cancellation requests involving customers of the same brokerage firm, IB will, when appropriate, apply the transacting venue's policy to such requests. Given the highly subjective and varied nature of these policies, IB has adopted the policy below in order to provide a level of certainty and predictability for our customers.

IB will make a determination only when the transacting exchange or market center refuses to rule on a trade and will abide by the trade cancellation policies of such organization whenever possible. Please consult the website of the respective exchange or market center for specific trade cancellation policies. Decisions involving trades not specifically defined in the respective organization's trade cancellation policy will be made on a case by case basis and if a clear policy for a specific execution in question does not exist, IB will evaluate a range of data including, but not necessarily limited to, the considerations outlined below. We will review all information considered to be relevant in determining the nature of a fair and orderly market and on those grounds, we will make a decision on a specific execution on a best efforts basis:

  • Timeliness of Notification: Requests for trade cancellations must be made within the time limits set by the relevant venue preferably via the Trade Cancellation Request tool.

  • Company or industry specific news/events.

  • Recent volatility of stock.

  • Change in broad market indicators at time of execution.

  • We will consider the length of time the order was live before execution. IB may be more inclined to break a trade if the order hits/lifts an existing bid/ask and less inclined to break if the order becomes the best bid/ask before execution.

  • Time of order submission and subsequent execution. (Pre/Post market vs. during the Trading Day).

  • Opening indication.

  • Adjacent transaction reports or indications. For example, Previous Day's Close Previous reported trade price, subsequent reported trade price Last Prints.

  • Next consecutive prints.

  • Liquidity issues.

The guidelines outlined above are designed to provide a level of protection for our customers. However, no policy can anticipate every conceivable situation. IB reserves the right to make determinations in the interest of maintaining a fair and orderly market.


Trade Cancellation Guidelines for Forex / Metals Trades

IB will generally consider cancellation or price adjustment for any Forex / Metals trade which is executed greater than ½% away from the fair market value at the time of the execution. Requests for trade cancellations must be received within a reasonable timeframe following execution and communicated preferably via the Trade Cancellation Request tool. IB will maintain sole discretion for determining the reasonableness of the reporting timeframe, taking into consideration the circumstances surrounding the trade in question. In the event that a trade meets the price guidelines for cancellation but there is a delay in reporting/requesting the cancellation, IB may deny the request for cancellation or may apply other algorithms to determine a price adjustment, for example, taking into account the trading range of the instrument in the time interval from execution to cancellation request.


Note:
  • 1Generally interpreted as the execution of an order at a price substantially away from the prevailing market price

http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/p.php?f=customerService&p=bust