Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I submit XML files in Unicode (dual language encoding)?

Currently Chinese is the only non-English language we support in Application XML.

In ASCII, one character is coded with 1 byte, but in Unicode (UTF-8), up to 4 bytes are allowed per character to represent non-ASCII range characters such as Chinese symbols.

If you are submitting XML files with Unicode (non-ASCII) characters in Chinese, you must include the following in your XML files:

  • Indicate that you are using UTF-8 encoding by including the line <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?> in the standard header of the XML file(s).

  • Specify your language in the Application element by adding input_language = '<language>[-<script>]' to the element where

    <language> represents the shortest ISO 639 code (2 or 3 characters)

    <script> represents the ISO 15924 code (4 characters).

For example, for Simplified Chinese, your Application element with input_language would look like this (not case sensitive):

<Application input_language = 'zh-Hans'> .

If you do not indicate UTF=8 encoding, encoding is defaulted to ASCII. If the input_languge attribute is missing, then the default value en (for English) is used.

2. What is the External ID?

The external ID is a unique identifier that is represented in the XML file by the attribute external_id. The external ID must be unique for each account application; we cannot process two applications with the same external ID. You can use your own user ID in this field.

The external_id is an attribute of the following complex types in the XML file:

  • Customer

  • Individual

  • Account

  • User

The external IDs can be the same for all four unless there are multiple individuals. If there are multiple individuals in an application (i.e., secondary holder in a joint account or IRA beneficiaries), then the external ID must be unique for each individual.

The user external ID would be the same ID as the account holder.

Individual Example:

  • Customer external_ID= ANAGY001

  • Individual (account holder) external_ID= ANAGY001

  • Account external_ID= ANAGY001

  • User external_ID= ANAGY001

IRA Example:

  • ustomer external_ID= ANAGY002

  • Individual (account holder) external_ID= ANAGY002

  • Individual (beneficiary) external_ID= ANAGY00248

  • Account external_ID= ANAGY002

  • User external_ID= ANAGY002

3. Which funding methods can I use to fund new accounts?

Only ACATS (full or partial), ATON, ACH (initiated by bank only), wire and check deposits are supported.

If you are submitting a wire deposit notification in Hong Kong Dollars (HKD), ask sales engineering for more information.

4. What is the minimum deposit required to open a client account?

5,000 USD.

5. What are the rules for account usernames?

Usernames are eight or nine characters long and must contain five or six lower-case letters and three numbers. You only need to provide the five lowercase letters; Interactive Brokers will append three or four numbers to complete the username.

6. What format do I use for Advisor Fees using Percent of Net Liquidation Value (%NLV)?

Enter your %NLV using the following example:

For 2%, enter 2, not 0.02.

You can set the advisor fee or use an existing fee template in the XML application.

7. What do I use for the Identification element?

For US: Social Security Number (SSN attribute).

For non-US, one of the following:

  • License (DriversLicense attribute)

  • National ID (NationalCard attribute)

  • Passport (Passport attribute)

  • Alien ID (AlienCard attribute).

8. Which XML element do I use for a new application?

The only XML element you will use is Applications. Disregard all other XML elements.

9. For the AccreditedInvestorInformation complex type, there are five unnamed booleans == q1,q2,q3,q4,q5. What do these do?

You can ignore these obsolete items.

10. What values are allowed in the country attribute?

The full country name as shown in the NAME column of the Country_Codes.csv file or the 3 character ISO code, part of the supporting documentation that we email you.

The ISO code must be used for states.

11. What happens if I submit a new application with an older timestamp than a previously submitted application?

The order of application submission has no effect on the Application XML.

12. What time zone should I use for the two timestamps exec_login_ts and exec_ts?

All of our times are based in New York (EST or EDT).

13. What encryption options are available?

PGP only.

14. What if I forget to submit specific required agreements or disclosures?

You can submit them by uploading an XML file to our FTP site. Name your file submit_additional_docs.xml and use the following sample as a guide:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="US-ASCII" standalone="yes"?>

<AcctMgmtRequests xmlns="http://www.interactivebrokers.com/schemas/IBCust_import">

<DocumentSubmission reference_account_id="U1110000">

<Document form_no="3007" exec_ts="20140620165825" exec_login_ts="20140620195825">

<SignedBy>Test Tester</SignedBy>

<AttachedFile file_name="3007.pdf" file_length="10896" sha1_checksum="d3da37913817130fa62479905267361bffd090c7" />

</Document>

</DocumentSubmission>

</AcctMgmtRequests>

15. What happens if exactly the same file name gets submitted for two separate clients - for example, two clients open accounts at the same time and we generate one xml file per client - at the exact same time (hour-minute-seconds)?

If both files have exactly the same file name, the second file will overwrite the first. The file names must be different.