How you earn it: If you have an Interactive Brokers (IBKR) account with at least $2,000 and you've made at least one trade, you can earn a $200 referral bonus for each person who signs up for an individual or joint account using your unique application link. You'll receive the bonus once the person you referred deposits at least $10,000 within 30 days of opening their account and maintains the balance for one year.
Your referral can receive $1 in IBKR shares for each $100 in value they add to their account. For example, if they transferred $1,000 in cash to their new Interactive Brokers account, they'd receive $10 worth of IBKR shares. But they'll need to maintain their average balance for one year before their shares vest and become available. The maximum value of the shares a new referral can receive is $1,000.
How you qualify: You can only receive 15 referral bonuses per calendar year, or 30 total. That means if you referred 15 friends or family members during the year and they each met the deposit requirements, you could earn up to $3,000 in 2024. However, the maximum you can earn through this promotion is $6,000 if you refer 30 people over multiple calendar years.
The offer only applies to taxable brokerage accounts. If the person you refer to Interactive Brokers opens a tax-advantaged account, such as an individual retirement account (IRA), neither of you will be eligible for the bonus. Geographic restrictions also apply.
You won't qualify for the promotion if you and your referral live in the same household. You're also prohibited from involvement in any trading activity in the referral account.
Details: This is a fairly competitive brokerage referral bonus, though the requirements to earn it are more onerous than what you find with most online brokerage referral programs. Your referral needs to deposit $10,000 and maintain that balance for one year.
For example, Robinhood offers a bonus of gift stock for each person you refer who opens an account and links it to their bank or debit card. There's no minimum deposit requirement for you to earn the bonus. Though there's the potential to earn gift stock valued between $5 and $200, Robinhood says the gift stock will be worth $5 for about 99% of users who refer someone.
M1 Finance's promotions include a referral program that allows both you and a friend to receive $75 when they open an account and deposit at least $10,000. Though the bonus for the referrer is less than half what you can earn by referring someone to Interactive Brokers, they also won't have to maintain a $10,000 balance with M1 Finance for a year before you receive your payout.
Offer expires: No expiration date is listed, but Interactive Brokers reserves the right to change the terms of its referral program at any time.
Fact Checked
Eric McWhinnie
2024 Award Winner
