Open Banking | Interactive Brokers

Our Open Banking integration provides a streamlined way to manage bank connections and transfers between your bank account and your IBKR brokerage account. We partner with Plaid to handle secure bank authentication and connection management.

We offer a hybrid integration approach rather than a full direct API integration:

Bank connection management is handled by our partner Plaid
Transfer execution is facilitated through our API endpoints
Standing instructions are managed within your IBKR account

Add Open Banking Instructions

Connect users to the IBKR portal using Single Sign On to add new Open Banking instructions to their account.

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Use Case: First-time setup or adding additional bank accounts

Flow:

Hosting firm will call the /api/v1/sso-browser-sessions and provide credential and ip of the end user.
IBKR returns a response URL with SID (unique token).
- SID is only valid for 60 seconds and can only be accessed from the IP which was included in the original request.
Hosting firm appends ACTION=TransferFunds&type=DEPOSIT&method=OPEN_BANKING&currency=<GBPorEUR> to the URL
Hosting firm invokes the URL into the users browser, new window opens and the user lands on IBKR funding page where they can add open banking instructions

Example

https://www.clientam.com/sso/resolver?ACTION=TransferFunds&type=DEPOSIT&method=OPEN_BANKING&currency=<GBPorEUR>&SID=<TokenHere>

Initiate Open Banking Deposit

Initiate a deposit via Plaid when standing Open Banking instructions are already in place by calling the /gw/api/v1/external-cash-transfers endpoint.

Prerequisites:

User must have existing standing Open Banking instructions in their IBKR account
Bank account must be previously connected
Hosting firm has provided the URI to IBKR API representative.

Flow:

Hosting firm calls the /gw/api/v1/external-cash-transfers endpoint providing IBKR with deposit details.
IBKR returns unique URL address
Hosting firm invokes URL into users browser. User lands in Plaid interface.
User authenticates and confirms deposit
Funds transfer is initiated

Request Parameters

Name	Type	Description
accountId	String	IBKR account ID of the advisor/broker client account which funds are being deposited to.
instructionType	DEPOSIT	Type of transaction.
clientInstructionId	Number; max characters 20.	Unique identifier associated with the request. – The clientInstructionId cannot be reused. – IBKR’s preference is that the clientInstructionId is established in sequential order ie 1, 2, 3, 4 or 100, 101, 102, 103 not 777, 589, 123.
amount	number > 0	Amount being deposited to the clients IBKR Account.
bankInstructionMethod	OPEN_BANKING	WIRE: Electronic fund transfer through the fed wire system. ACH: Includes US Automated Clearing House, Single Euro Payment Area, Canadian Electronic Funds Transfer.
currency	Currency code (3 digits). Available currencies can be found here.	Currency of the funds being sent to IBKR.
bankInstructionName	String; maximum of 150characters.	Name of the previously created instruction (saved bank/account number. Only required for ACH initiated by IBKR.
identifier	String; maximum of 64characters.	Bank Account Number
serviceProvider	PLAID	Name of the service provider.
linkDisplayName	String; maximum of 128 characters.	Name of the client displayed on Plaid’s UI
completeRedirectUri	URI address	Return URL (pre-configured in Plaid dashboard)

Example

{
    "instructionType": "DEPOSIT",
    "instruction": {
        "clientInstructionId": 43454545,
        "accountId": "U1234567",
        "currency": "EUR",
        "amount": 1300,
        "bankInstructionMethod": "OPEN_BANKING",
        "openBanking": {
            "serviceProvider": "PLAID",
            "plaidOptions": {
                "linkDisplayName": "Test displayname",
                "completionRedirectUri": "wonderdust://complete"
            }
        },
        "bankInstructionName": "Test Bank"
    }
}

Example Response

{
    "status": 202,
    "instructionSetId": 882059,
    "instructionResult": {
        "depositDetails": {
            "openBanking": {
                "serviceProvider": "PLAID",
                "providerResponse": {
                    "paymentId": "payment-id-sandbox-dc9f2de9-6c6d-4c04-b09c-c7fb8314afc7",
                    "hostedlinkUrl": "https://secure.plaid.com/hl/ls16p0n6orpq489p4s37o3rr16pqq9n3p2",
                    "linkToken": "link-sandbox-61c5a1be-cd93-4c9f-82b8-ee61cdd4a8c7"
                }
            }
        },
        "ibReferenceId": 320905649,
        "clientInstructionId": 601361111111301,
        "instructionType": "DEPOSIT",
        "instructionStatus": "PENDING",
        "instructionId": 703819361
    }
}

Initiate Withdrawal

When you add Open Banking instructions to your IBKR account, IBKR automatically creates a set of standing withdrawal instructions. This one-time setup enables seamless ongoing transfers. This means withdrawal requests can be submitted without requiring user interaction with Plaid or IBKR.

bankInstructionMethod will be one of the following:
- LVP (IB-UK)
- SEPA

Prerequisites:

Standing withdrawal instructions must be set up in IBKR account

Example

POST /gw/api/v1/external-cash-transfers
{ "instructionType": "WITHDRAWAL", 
 "instruction": {    "clientInstructionId": 7013048,
    "accountId": "U46377",
    "bankInstructionName": "Test Withdrawal",
    "bankInstructionMethod": "SEPA",
    "amount": "123.45",
    "currency": "EUR",
    "dateTimeToOccur": "2023-11-20T09:12:13Z"
  }

TIP: The /gw/api/v1/bank-instructions/query endpoint can be used to view list of saved banking instructions on file by accountId and bankInstructionMethod. The response will return the corresponding bankInstructionName and, bankRoutingNumber, currency last 4 digits of the bankAccountNumber.