How to Fund Your IBKR Account Using Fluidkey with No Fee

In your Fluidkey account, USDC is treated as USD on a 1:1 basis, which you can use to on-ramp or off-ramp USD between your Fluidkey balance and an external bank account.

Once you complete KYC, Fluidkey provides an embedded ACH account, powered by Bridge with Lead Bank as the U.S. banking partner. The account is held in your own name, so you can use it to deposit to and withdraw from brokerage accounts such as IBKR.

Every user is entitled to $3,000 in free transfers per month, covering both on-ramp and off-ramp activity. Beyond that limit, you can still send and receive funds with a 0.3% fee applied.

This article walks you through how to deposit funds into your IBKR account using Fluidkey. If you'd like to learn about the withdrawal flow instead, please refer to: How to withdraw money from IBKR to Fluidkey with no fee.

Step 1: Link Your Bank Account in IBKR

After completing registration, IBKR will first prompt you to link a bank account.
At this step, you need to enter your Routing Number and Account Number.

Go to the Bank section on the Fluidkey homepage, where you can find the required account details.
(Note: The full name on your Lead Bank account must exactly match the name on your IBKR account.)

Step 2: Complete IBKR's Additional Verification

After submitting your account details, IBKR requires additional verification.
Choose the first option: Wait for micro-deposits.

After confirming and submitting all details, you will receive two small deposits (under $1) within a few days for verification. Timing can vary by user, so please be patient.

Step 3: Verify the Micro Deposits

A few days later, IBKR will email you to confirm that the two micro deposits were sent.

A few hours later, Fluidkey will receive those deposits and notify you by email.

Go back to the IBKR email, click Verify Micro Deposits, and enter the two deposit amounts in order to complete account verification and link your account successfully.

(Note: Every user receives different deposit amounts. Do not enter the amounts shown in the example images.)

Step 4: Deposit Funds into IBKR

Once account verification is complete and your bank account is linked, follow these steps in IBKR to deposit funds: choose Deposit.

Select the first option: Deposit Funds.

Important: select Use a New Deposit Method.

(Note: Do not choose Linked Bank Accounts. The reason is explained below.)

Find the second option, Initiate a Direct ACH Transfer from Your Bank, then click Get Instructions.

In the Confirm the Country/Region of Your Bank pop-up, choose Yes to confirm (Fluidkey's banking partner, Lead Bank, is located in the United States).

Use the instruction details shown there, then return to Fluidkey and initiate an ACH bank transfer.

Step 5: Send USDC from Fluidkey

Open Fluidkey, tap Send, then select USDC.

(Note: You can also send other tokens. We will automatically convert before payout, and the full flow remains one-click for you. USDC currently supports a 1:1 withdrawal rate. If you send via Base, no gas fee is required.)

In the address field, tap the Bank icon on the right, choose ACH (USD) and Individual, then enter the Routing Number, bank name, and account number based on IBKR instructions.

Click Next.

Enter your First Name and Last Name; they must exactly match the name on your IBKR account.

For Country, select USA. For Address, search online for UMB Bank, IBKR, Address. In one example account, you can use:

Address: 1010 Grand Boulevard
City: Kansas City
Zip Code: 64106
State/Province: Missouri (MO)

(Note: Some users may be mapped to a different receiving bank. Always verify the bank name and address online before entering.)

Enter the amount to send, click Next, then Confirm.

After sending successfully, you will receive a confirmation email from Fluidkey/Bridge.
(ACH transfers usually take 1-3 business days, so please be patient.)

A few days later, once the funds are credited, you'll receive an IBKR Deposit Activity Update email, confirming the deposit is complete.
(In this test run, it took three full days. Processing time can vary by transaction.)

Important Reminder: Do Not Do This

Fluidkey does not support fund pull from your bank account. Fluidkey is a self-custodial wallet; we only withdraw to your Lead Bank account via Bridge when you send funds. Likewise, when funds arrive in your Lead Bank account, they are immediately deposited back into your Fluidkey wallet via Bridge.

That means your Lead Bank account effectively does not keep a standing balance. If you accidentally select the first option in the Deposit section, Link Your Bank Account, and follow that flow, the transfer will fail (because IBKR cannot pull funds from the account), and your account status may also be affected.