IBKR forex, minimum $2.80 per transaction. If I exchange $3000 per month to invest, that's almost 0.1% lost on forex. Are there better ways?

Hi Bing Ru,

I believe IBKR conversion is your best bet already. As you said, using brokers that charge no fees (ie Tiger) subjects you to a poorer FX spread which results in even greater losses on your investment sum.

I think IBKR accepts FX deposit from DBS at no charge, but DBS' FX rate is also poorer than IBKR's, which results in the same problem as above.

After accounting for this FX loss and IBKR's low commission, it's still cheaper than other options based on your investment sum of $3k. If you really want to minimise this, you could reduce the frequency of your conversions (and thus investments), but I think this loss is a small price to pay for earlier entry into the market.

Hope this helps!

Regards,
thefrugalstudent

Currently, Tigerbrokers charge no currency conversion fee.

https://www.tigerbrokers.com.sg/help/detail/cur...

1.99 USD(TIGR) versus $2.80 + commision on IBKR for US stocks.