Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible- Tony Robbins
You are ready to buy your first foreign stock. You want to know the bolts and nuts of opening an account and the process of funding the account, I hope this post would make you comfortable to fund your IBKR and buy your first US ETFs/index funds!
How to fund your foreign brokerage account from Malaysia, Singapore or in fact Asia? Reading this post would make the whole process very simple and straightforward!
I bought my first foreign stock back in 2008-2009 using a local brokerage account. The brokerage fee is killing you. The only advantage of using a local brokerage is convenience.
Global Brokerage Account For Malaysians /Singaporeans
A few years back I started to use DBS Vickers/DBS Treasures because I wanted to buy Singapore stocks especially Singapore REITs.The minimum fee of buying US stocks is USD18 per transaction! And you are slapped with Custodian fee for holding foreign stocks other than Singaporean stocks.
I started to use Interactive Brokers (IBKR) and I find the fee to be very competitive! The process of opening an account is quite straightforward and you can upload all your documents online. Some of my friends are using Ameritrade but the good thing about Interactive Brokers is you can buy almost all common stocks in all major markets in the World!
IBKR has the best fee structure ( as low as USD0.35 to USD1 per transaction depending on your choice for tiered or fixed commission).
If you are a Singaporean, it is even better because you can use FAST to transfer your fund into
For Malaysians, funding your IBKR account can be pretty troublesome if you plan to queue up in the bank and being asked one hundred and 10 questions the reasons behind transferring your money to the US.
You can do it online using Malaysian banks internet banking by transferring ( TT) the money to US IBKR account in USD, unfortunately the exchange rate is pathetic and make you lose out in long term because there are a lot of hidden costs using bank transfer.
So how to transfer your money to IBKR in a cheaper way? I am using TransferWise or
Make sure you have opened a TransferWise/InstaREM and you have an active IBKR account.
Funding your Brokerage Account From Malaysia/ Singapore
Step 1: Log in to IBKR
Go to left top corner and click on Transfer and Pay and choose Transfer Funds
Make sure you choose SGD because later on you need them to show you the IBKR Singapore account details
Fill up the Deposit Transaction Information as below, we would try to transfer SGD100 first,
You can put your sending institution InstaREM or TransferWise depending which one you use. Choose NO for recurring transaction.
Your bank wire instructions would appear as below,
Write down your IBKR virtual bank account number ( Red arrow ) and payment reference which is your IBKR account number. Don’t worry, your bank account number is a virtual account number specifically assigned to you, even you don’t put in your payment reference detail later, the money will still go to your IBKR account!
But you know Malaysians are equally ‘kiasu’ ( Malaysian and Singaporean version of FOMO– Fear of Missing Out ) as Singaporeans, better put that in later during your transfer just in case!
Step 2: Convert MYR to SGD using Instarem or Transferwise
Log onto your InstaREM or TransferWise and convert your money from MYR to SGD
You can use either bank transfer method , direct deposit, debit card etc ( depending on you are using InstaREM of TransferWise), use bank transfer since is the easiest and cheapest .You can bank in to InstaREM and TransferWise OCBC account later ( Yes- both companies uses OCBC bank for their account) using internet banking later.
Fill up the recipient as below, you must remember that your recipient is Interactive Brokers LLC in Singapore, the bank is Citibank N.A NOT Citibank Singapore! Put in your IBKR virtual bank account number ( Red Arrow) in blue highlighted area.
After you have done it, both Instarem or Transferwise will let you know their OCBC account number and instruction to transfer the money. You have to transfer the fund within 36 hours or else your transaction will be cancelled.
Step 3: Log on to Your Malaysian Bank Account Online
It is easy because it like a normal internet banking transfer for any bank account in Malaysia. You key in TransferWise/InstaREM OCBC bank account number and transfer the money like all other transactions.
I always use Instant-Transfer service so that the money can reach IBKR Singapore ASAP. If you use InstantTransfer, you can get the fund within mins to one hour in your IBKR account!!
Once you log in your IBKR account again, you need to convert your SGD to various currencies depending what shares you want to buy!
** If you click on TransferWise and InstaREM links up there, I would get some commissions if you finally transfer some money but it won’t get me rich so don’t worry and thank you!
Addendum ( 17/7/2020): I have managed to use TransferWise to fund my IBKR in USD. This will make the process easier and minimize conversion fees since we only convert MYR to USD instead of MYR to SGD and then to USD!
Addendum (5/10/2020): Visit my post on how to fund your IBKR using MYR HERE.
Addendum (2/11/2020): Please visit Jerry Ng’s article on the same topic, I used his photos in my post here.
Addendum (4/3/2021): TransferWise has changed its name to Wise and the receiving bank in Malaysia is JP Morgan and not OCBC anymore.
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Hi Dr Goh, I am new to IBKR. I am thankful to have found your blog about funding IBKR from MYR to USD straight.
I realized my IB account come with IBKR AUS (https://www.interactivebrokers.com.au/).
May I know if I need to fund to IBKR Australia (from MYR to AUS to USD)? or can I still fund to IBKR Singapore (MYR to USD) as stated above?
As stated in addendum, would like to confirm with u if u fund IBKR SGD or IBKR LLC since u can convert from MYR to USD?
Appreciate your reply!
Yee siew
Dear Yew Siew,
When you log into IBKR, you will be directed to IBKR Australia or HK sites, but you can fund your IBKR in multiple currencies such as USD,SGD,AUD,NZD,HKD etc.Unfortunately you can’t fund it using MYR. I have managed to fund my IBKR before using HKD,NZD and SGD ( because I have a multiple currency account in Singapore).
If you have foreign currency in your Malaysian or Singapore bank account, you can fund IBKR using these foreign currencies but you must choose the currency you want to fund in your IBKR platform. For example if you want to fund it using AUD, choose AUD and IBKR will provide you a bank account in Australia so that you can send the money to Australia, likewise if you choose NZD, you will be given an NZD account number.
I will talk about how to use TransferWise to convert MYR to USD and fund your IBKR in my next post when I am free.
I see… Thanks so much for your clarification! Looking forward to your future posts:)
Can’t wait for your tutorial on using Transferwise to fund USD into IBKR from Malaysia. Transferwise FAQ on USD says they are not able to send funds for FFC. Your further info on this would be much appreciated!
https://transferwise.com/help/articles/2932150/usd-transfers
Yes, you are right. We are not supposed to send USD via TransferWise to IBKR but somehow, I managed to send to IBKR by converting MYR to USD via TransferWise three times so far this year. Will write about this and maybe you can try small amount first.
Hi Dr Goh,
Thank you for your write up. I like to ask, if you have a multi foreign currency account (MFCA) in Malaysia, can you not fund your IBKR account directly from, instead of going via Singapore?
Any specific difference a MFCA in Malaysia can’t do that a MFCA in Singapore can?
I’ve been an expatriate for about the last decade, and I’m returning back to MY very soon. I’ve some money which I would be repatriating but I’m torn where (between SG and MY) should I be repatriating the funds and in what currency (between MYR, SGD and USD) should I be repatriating the fund?
I won’t have a whole use of foreign currency (be it SGD or USD) when I’m back home, but due to the instability of the MYR, I am risk averse to MYR fluctuating and would rather change as I need along the way.
Appreciate any insights you may have. By the way, I’m invested in VWRD and IGLO thus far =)
Dear SAndrew,
I am not sure, I only have a multi-currency account in Singapore but not Malaysia. I am using DBS multiplier and I noticed basically it costs me zero dollars to send my USD/NZD in DBS to IBKR account in US and NZ. You must be aware that if you want to transfer money out of Malaysia, you are allowed to send out max MYR1 million per year if you have any outstanding loan in Malaysia. Therefore I think opening a multi-currency account in Singapore will be a better option.
So if you are taking back your money from overseas, just open a multi-currency account in Singapore and keep your money in the original currency, don’t change your currency first because the exchange rate in any bank either in Malaysia or Singapore sucks.
I know people who open IBKR to exchange currency because IBKR gives you near spot rate and it is very cheap compared to banks. Read this post to learn how to convert currency in IBKR.
So let say you have USD, keep all money in USD in Singapore bank. When you need SGD, transfer your USD to IBKR and convert it to SGD and transfer it back to your bank. You are allowed to have one free withdrawal per month in IBKR.
The problem arises when you need MYR because you can’t convert your other currency to MYR in IBKR.
You think about this and let me know your decision.
And good to know you invest in VWRD and IGLO.
Hope this advice helps.
Hi Dr Goh,
Is it better if I open an multi currency account in Singapore and transfer from MYR to SGD or USD into this account in Singapore? Then directly fund IBKR from this Singapore account? This is also better now that SGX/CDP requires a Singapore-based account for credit of dividends from SGX shares.
Dear Hing,
I think you are absolutely right. If I transfer my USD to IBKR via TransferWise, even though IBKR receives the fund, the money is not immediately available for trading. I need to wait for a few more days before the fund is approved for trading. If I use my Singapore multicurrency account to send USD to IBKR, the money will appear within 24 hours in IBKR US account and available for trading. I also found out that DBS overseas transfer is free of charge. Therefore it might be a good idea to use Transferwise to convert MYR to USD ( i don’t think it is wise to convert to SGD and then to USD in IBKR platform because there will be 2 conversions) and send to a Singapore account and then transfer to IBKR.
Having said that as a Malaysian, I know it is getting harder to open a Singapore account now unless you work there. I think RHB provides multi-currency accounts here but I do not have experience using it.
Dear Hing,
I have tried to convert MYR to USD via TransferWise and send the money ( in USD) to my multicurrency account in Singapore, I found that actually, it costs more money to do so because 1) to send USD outside of the USA, Transferwise needs to SWIFT network, it is more expensive and costs extra money and longer time, and 2) the recipient bank ( DBS) might charge fees to receive the money. So we are back to square one, the cheapest way is still to convert MYR to USD via TransferWise and send straight to the IBKR account in the USA but as I said, you need a few more extra days before the fund is available for trading.
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Hi Dr Goh, thanks for sharing!
is this your post too
https://ngshiheng.medium.com/investing-in-us-stocks-from-malaysia-myr-usd-9f78c61f26cf
the images look the same
Dear JamieTan,
No the article was written by someone else, I must admit I used the photos I downloaded from the internet and these must come from here. I will add a link in my post to this article.
Anyway, thanks for letting me know.
Hi Dr Goh, love this post! It’s so helpful!
May I know where can you find the virtual account number (VAN)? I can’t seem to find this info in client portal, except my account number (UXXXXXXX).
Dear XHL,
What I meant was if you plan to fund your IBKR in USD, your recipient bank can be either JP Morgan or Citi NA, I learned from a reader that if it happened to be Citi NA, you are given a virtual bank account to transfer your fund to IBKR account in USA. The account number consists of 2 portions- first portion is the account number and the second portion is your IBKR account number. ( The virtual account will be XXXXXUYYYYY, XXXXX is IBKR US account number and UYYYY is your IBKR account number). When you set up your TransferWise transfer, remember you only need to put in XXXXX as IBKR US account number and put UYYYY ( your IBKR account number) as the reference number. If you put the whole virtual account number XXXXXUYYYY as the account number, you will not be able to make any transfer. For those who were given JP Morgan as the recipient bank, it seems very straightforward because you are given a valid bank account number instead of a virtual bank account number!
Hi Dr Goh, thanks for the helpful info. Wondering what is the best way to WITHDRAW from IBKR back to Malaysian bank account later on (Without singapore account)
Dear Yuan,
Thanks for your email. I will be writing this in my next post.
Dear Yuan
I just found a good post by Jerry Ng about how to do this step by step, please read his article here https://medium.com/malaysia-personal-finance/how-to-withdraw-money-from-interactive-broker-ibkr-to-malaysia-banks-1335ca76dcd2
In my next article, I will be talking about how to do it ( withdraw to a Singapore account).
Hello, will you be updating the article since INSTAREM now requires giving phone number (ie for citibank n.a) and some of the screenshots are a little outdated. really helpful article tho! thanks 🙂
Dear Viv,
Thanks for the comment, will look into this and hopefully make some updates soon.
I recall one bank telling me that that if you withdraw money from a multi currency account, there is a 2%, or to that effect, charge on that withdrawal?
Dear hlee,
I keep a multicurrency account in Singapore, the bank doesn’t charge me when I transfer or withdraw my foreign currency.
That is good to know. The banks informing me this were Malaysian : UOB and BOC. Not sure if it applies to remittance overseas but it clearly applies to withdrawals over the counter.
Hi Dr Goh,
I am Shee. I manage to fund my IB account based on your method. Thank you very much. I would like to find out, how did you withdraw money from IB to your Malaysia account? thanks
Dear Shee,
You can read my post on how to withdraw fund back to Malaysia and Singapore here
https://drgohhk.com/withdraw-money-from-ibkr-back-to-malaysia-and-singapore/
Hi Dr Goh,
Are you still funding IBKR account from Malaysia using Wise to convert directly from MYR to USD? As I have watched some YouTube videos about this type of transaction is not that safe.
I have just applied for Joint IBKR account and just wondering if I can fund the account from my Malaysia individual account using Wise to IBKR in USD?
Thank you in advance for your time to reply.
Brian
Dear Brian Law,
Thanks for coming to my blog. Yes, I am still using Wise to transfer MYR to USD fortnight. I started to use Instarem as well a few weeks ago. You can convert your MYR to USD via Wise and send the money to IBKR US account with individual or joint account.
Hi, I just open an account with IBKR, the final step is to fund my account, can you advise what is the minimum amount i need to transfer to activate my account?
Thank you
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