What is an IB and how do they actually make money?
If you search for what an IB is in forex, you'll find the same answer repeated everywhere: “an IB introduces clients to a broker and earns a commission”. It's correct and useless, because it doesn't explain the only thing that matters: where that money actually comes from and what you have to do for it to exist.
What an IB is, in one honest sentence
An Introducing Broker is someone who brings clients to a broker and supports them while they trade. The broker provides the platform, the execution and the payments. You provide the relationship.
That second part is the one almost nobody mentions, and it's the entire job.
Where the commission comes from (and where it doesn't)
Here's the most expensive misunderstanding for a new IB: the commission doesn't come from the deposit. It comes from your clients' activity when they trade.
The difference isn't theoretical. A client who deposits a large amount and never trades leaves you exactly zero. Another who starts small but trades every week and is still there six months later sustains your business. That's why getting clients is only half the job: the other half is that they stay and trade sensibly.
The specific conditions —how it's calculated, how often it's paid, what levels exist— vary by program. Always confirm them with your manager before doing any maths.
What an IB is not
Three frequent confusions, worth clearing up before you start:
- An IB doesn't manage other people's money or touch client funds.
- An IB doesn't live off selling signals or promising results.
- An IB isn't passive income: if you stop supporting people, the portfolio switches itself off.
The third one is what most people discover too late. The referral link takes a form to get; what comes after it is a business.
So what does the job actually involve?
When you break it into parts, an IB's job is always the same four:
- Attract: where the people you talk to come from.
- Support: what you do in the first days, which are the ones that decide.
- Retain: what you do when someone goes cold or has a bad day.
- Systemize: how you stop depending on your memory once there are many.
None of the four has anything to do with trading. You can be an excellent trader and a mediocre IB, and the other way around.
Who does it make sense for?
It makes sense if there are already people around you who trade or who ask you about trading: a community, a group, a channel, or simply people who trust you. They don't need to be many.
And it doesn't make sense as a get-rich-quick plan, because what you earn depends on other people still being there months later. That gets built, not switched on.
Before asking for your link, make this list: who among the people you know already trades, or has asked you about this at some point? If the list is empty, that's your first job —and no link solves it. If it has at least three names, you already have your first week of work: one conversation with each, no link and no offer. Just ask how they're doing.
And if the list isn't empty but you don't know where the next ones will come from, I wrote about that here: Why your community isn't growing even though you post every day. If what you're missing isn't names but hours, see how to start as an IB without quitting your job.
Your first client: Stage 1 of the academy
In IB ACADEMY, Stage 1 starts exactly where this article ends: where your first client comes from, what to say in the first message, and how to answer when someone hesitates. It's free training for IBs, and we practice every conversation in role play before you use it for real.
Book a 30-minute meetingKeep reading
I work with the IBs in our network so their community grows with a system, not with improvisation: attract, support, retain and organise a portfolio. Here I write about that work, with no income promises.