What is the point of introducing brokers?

[Baptiste Wicht]

Hi

I recently came across meintrade.ch, an introducing broker to Interactive Brokers. It's basically a broker on top of Interactive Brokers. It is used quite a lot in the US, but not so much in Switzerland.

So, I digged a little into it and looked at their fees, and it's basically a much more expensive version of IBKR. Put simply, it's Swiss fees on top of IB.

If you want to look at the details, I have added it to the broker comparison tool: https://thepoorswiss.com/broker-comparison-tool/

I do not see the added value of this service:
* It's more expensive than IBKR, so we might as well use IBKR directly
* It's only giving the illusion of Swissness since everything is held by IBKR, so we might as well use IBKR
* It's even more expensive than some other Swiss brokers, so we might as well use another Swiss broker

Am I missing something or is this kind of service only detrimental to users?

 

[gaijin]

Thanks for sharing. I did not know about this site. This is very interesting and not usual for Switzerland. I can understand why IB would provide such an interface/API and pay them a commission to any company that brings them business/customers. So I'm completely sympathetic with IB on this point.

However, I highly question the motivation of meintrade.ch To me this looks like fake advertising. Claiming to be a Swiss broker - while you are actually not - feels highly suspicious to me. Of course I understand if you would like to include them in your broker comparison page. Still, I would be careful to make very clear that IB is the brocker behind meintrade.ch . So there is nothing Swiss about the broker and terms like Schweizer Onlinebroker / Aus der Schweiz für die Schweiz misuse the brand of Switzerland.

 

[Baptiste Wicht]

However, I highly question the motivation of meintrade.ch To me this looks like fake advertising. Claiming to be a Swiss broker - while you are actually not - feels highly suspicious to me.

I agree. This is marketing entirely. The sad part is that I would expect they could make it much cheaper since they are using IB under the hood.

Of course I understand if you would like to include them in your broker comparison page.

The broker comparison is not a list of recommendations. It's good to have a mix of good and bad brokers there so that we realize the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive ones.

 

[gaijin]

The broker comparison is not a list of recommendations.

Makes sense to list brokers according to their fees rather than making recommendations.

With this new construct I am wondering if it actually fits the definition of a broker. After all, meinTrade does not provide any broker infrastructure. Of course, I'm aware that other companies also might not use their own backend (Yuh > Swissquote, Alpian > IB, Neon > Hypothekarbank Lenzburg). Still, I think meinTrade is a new level of simply providing a shell and a nice looking website. But I have to admit that I have not looked too deeply into meinTrade, maybe they offer more I assumed.

 

[JC meintrade]

Hi everyone,

Catching up on this thread and figured I’d jump in as JC from meinTrade.ch to clear the air, lay out the facts, and explain what we’re actually building here.
Let’s be real for a second: If you’re a hard-core DIY investor comfortable running bare-metal IBKR, tweaking TWS configurations, and filing your taxes in your sleep—you don't need us. The Poor Swiss crew is made of power users who know their stuff. You guys are totally fine directly with IBKR.
So, why do we even exist as an IBKR Introducing Broker out of Zug?

1. The Retail Gap in Switzerland
Most regular Swiss investors are getting completely fleeced by traditional banks (0.25% custody fees, ridiculous 1.5% FX margins, $50+ per trade). They want out, but going straight to IBKR terrifies them—English-only UI, complex setups, and zero phone support if something goes wrong. We bridge that gap: IBKR’s world-class engine on the back end, combined with a human Swiss support team, 1-on-1 walkthroughs, and local tax help on the front end.

2. The Daytrader Pool (Volume = Leverage)
Here’s the part that actually gets interesting for active traders: As a single retail account, IBKR gives you standard rates. Zero room to negotiate. Through our meinTrade Daytrader Pool, we stack the trading volume of our entire active community. As our total volume scales, we use that collective weight as an institutional client to push IBKR for custom fee drops, better execution terms, and lower thresholds—passing those advantages right back to the active traders in our group. (Feel free to check out how we structure this here: https://www.meintrade.ch/warum-mein-trade/fuer-daytrader/).
We aren't trying to hide the IBKR connection—we actively promote it because their infrastructure is top-tier. We just wrap it in a local, hassle-free layer for people who want institutional pricing without the DIY headache.

Happy to answer any questions or debate numbers anytime!
Best,
JC – Team meinTrade.ch

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