Interactive Brokers Referral Bonus: Earn up to $1000 of IBKR stock!

Here’s a complete step-by-step guide explaining everything you need to know about how to qualify and earn up to $1,000 worth of Interactive Brokers (IBKR) stock:

1. Use the link: sign up using this referral link and set up your individual or joint Interactive Brokers account. 
2. Deposit funds: you’ll then need to deposit funds to start using the brokerage platform. The amount of free bonus IBKR stock you qualify for will depend on how much you put into your Interactive Brokers account.
3. Get your free stock: for every $100 (or its equivalent in another currency) worth of cash or assets you add to your account during the first year, you get $1 worth of free IBKR stock. This is up to a maximum of $1,000 worth of free IBKR bonus shares. But your average balance will be calculated and must be maintained for at least 1 year for the shares to vest and be accessible.
4. Refer a friend: once you have your account set up, you can become a ‘Referrer’ by sending your unique code to friends and family. For each person who signs up, you can get a $200 cash bonus if your account has a Net Liquidation Value (NLV) of at least $2,000 and you’ve placed at least one trade. They’ll also need to sign up using your link, deposit at least $10,000 in the first 30 days (and maintain an average balance of $10k over a year).

Once you start earning free IBKR shares through this referral promotion, you have to wait one year before you can sell, exchange, transfer, assign, or dispose of your bonus IBKR stock from the award date.

So, if you deposit gradually throughout the year, you’d also get gradual access to your bonus shares on a rolling basis over the next year. If you deposit in a lump sum to qualify for the full $1,000 worth of free stock, you can access all of those shares exactly one year from that date.

Currently, you can qualify for the Interactive Brokers referral bonus if you’re based in any of the countries the brokerage operates in (apart from the exclusions described below).

You can check out the full list of worldwide countries here that Interactive Brokers allow users to reside in. The ‘Refer a Friend’ bonus promotion should be available in all these countries apart from a few exceptions. 

Right now, this Interactive Brokers referral promotion is not available for users in:

• Japan
• Israel
• Spain

So, you may as well sign up for Interactive Brokers with a regular referral link. Residents of Canada and India can become a ‘Referrer’, but you’re not able to get the free bonus welcome stock if someone refers you. So, you can just sign up normally and then refer friends outside your country.

This is an ongoing promotion offered by Interactive Brokers and the referral bonus is designed to encourage you to spread the word, helping them get new customers on board. But, this Interactive Brokers referral promotion can change at any time. Or, they might lower the offer if it gets too popular.

Yes, there’s a cap. You can refer up to 15 friends or family in a calendar year, which means potentially earning up to an extra $3,000 in bonus cash! You’re also allowed to refer up to 30 people in total. So you could earn up to $6,000 overall with the Interactive Brokers referral promotion.