Transfer of funds, Currency Conversion aka Forex and Purchase of stocks/ETF

I have been using the app instead of website to buy stocks for the longest time as it is far simpler. However, I still conduct the fund transfer part through desktop as i find it easier for this part

Below is a guide on the entire sequence of Fund Transfer > Conversion of currency (ie. FOREX) > Purchase of stocks. To note, the Conversion of currency & Purchase of stocks are actually done in the same manner, just that the former is to purchase a certain currency while the latter is to purchase stocks. For the sake of simplicity, I will assume that the account is a cash account and not a margin account.

The general steps are: 

1) (Using desktop) Fund Transfer 

a) After logging into the client portal, go to Menu> Transfer & Pay> Transfer Funds

b) Choose the currency of the funds that you will be depositing. Then click "How to transfer funds" for the Bank Wire. 

c) Thereafter, key in the details of your bank account that you will be transferring from. It is recommended to save bank info to speed up subsequent fund transfer (this allows you to only key in the amount for future transactions without keying in the account number and sending institutions). Press "Continue" 

d) Congrats! Now, you have created a Notification in IB to inform them of the incoming funds. You will also be given the details on where to transfer the funds to. For SGD, you will typically be given a Citibank Singapore account to transfer to (this acc number is unique to each IB acc). 

e) Now, head to your bank internet banking and transfer funds to the bank account number as per the bank wire instructions in step d). Recommend to use FAST transfer. There will be no charge for this transfer, both on IB and the bank sides. 

2) (Using App) Conversion of Currency (FOREX)

 a) After logging in, go to "Portfolio" to check if your funds are already in.

b) It should be reflected under the cash balances. In this example, there is SGD1.08k inside.

 c) Now, we are going to convert the SGD into USD as we want to buy IWDA which is denominated in USD. Go to "Order Ticket" to find USD.SGD. This will allow you to buy USD using SGD. 

 d) Search for USD.SGD pair and click on "Forex".

 e) You should see this which indicates the current price. In this example, it indicates the price of 1USD is now 1.36115. People are bidding (ie. trying to buy) at 1.36110 while people are asking (ie. trying to sell) USD at 1.36115. High and Low simply indicates the highest and lowest for the day. You can also see the chart on the changes across different time period. There is also a section on your position. I find that part helpful on informing me roughly how much USD have I bought and what was the average price. Now, click on buy (ie. I want to buy USD)

 f) You will reach the "Buy Order" page where you can set the parameters of your order. In this example, I want to buy 100 pieces of USD (ie. USD 100) at 1.36115SGD per piece. Limit means an order to buy or sell at this price of better (eg. If it is 1.35, it will go through too) while Day means that this order will be active for today only (will be cancelled at the end of the day). Thereafter, slide the bar at the bottom to confirm.

It is recommended for you to quote a price that is slightly higher than the current price (eg. 1.3615) so that you can get your order filled (ie. make a successful order) immediately. This will allow you to quickly use the money for purchase of stocks.

 g) After confirming the order, you should see your order being reflected at the previous screen (both on the graph and at the bottom). (Pardon me, this example indicates a buy of 100 at 1.35 which differs from the previous step). When the order is filled, you will see the side will be Fill 100@1.35 or Fill 80@ 1.349 (could be partially filled at times or filled at a better price), etc. You can search online to find out what limit, day, etc means. Alternatively, buy and read ST book. He has quite a good explanation of them.

 h) After the order is filled, you can go back to "Portfolio" and should see the USD that you have under "USD Cash" (can't see the exact amt in this screenshot).

3) (Using App) Purchase of Stocks (IWDA in this example which is denominated in USD)

a) With the USD funds, we can now buy the IWDA stocks. This is essentially the same step as that of the FOREX. Go to "Order Ticket"

 b) Search for IWDA and click on "Stock" under "IWDA LSEETF". Take note there is AEB and LSEETF. You will want to buy the one under LSEETF

c) Thereafter, you will land at the page of IWDA. Refer to Step 2e) for the explanation on this screen. Click on "Buy"

 d) As per step 2f), indicate the amount you will want to buy and at what price. Slide the bar thereafter. In this example, a limit order of 100 at 58.7000USD is being made. Similarly, you may want to put in an order that is a bit higher to ensure it is successful.

 f) There will be a pop up. This simply means that the 58.7 market price indicated is delayed (ie. not live prices. Think the delay is 15mins?). Just press Yes as it is not important in this case to ensure that you have live prices.

 g) There will be another pop up. Just press "Accept and continue".

 h) Your order will be reflected in the "Orders" section. In this example, there are 2 orders - 1@58USD and 25@58.2.

i) Once it is filled, you should be able to see it at your portfolio page with you having a position on IWDA and the numbers of pieces possessed. Take note, you will also see a position in the USD.SGD. Don't worry about it. It just indicates the amount you have exchanged. I find it useful to track the average rate that I have exchanged my SGD to USD.

j) Alternatively, if you want to check on the trades, including a few days ago, you can go to "Order & Trades".

 k) You should be able to see the trades at the price bought and commission incurred.

The above will apply to any other buying of stocks. Hope it helps!