A $10,000 foreign-share round trip can carry $6 to $150 in stated FX charges

Two $10,000-equivalent currency conversions—one into the currency of a foreign share purchase and one back out—produce stated standard FX charges ranging from about $6 at Interactive Brokers to $150 at eToro under the providers’ current published formulas. Trading 212’s equivalent benchmark is $30 and XTB’s is $100. The 25-fold range exists before any change in the exchange rate and before share commissions, spreads, taxes or investment gains and losses.[1][2][3][4]

The calculation does not say every customer will pay those amounts. It applies each provider’s disclosed standard automatic-conversion rate to two $10,000 conversions: 0.03% at Interactive Brokers, 0.15% at Trading 212, 0.5% at XTB and 0.75% at eToro. Multicurrency accounts, manual FX trades, club discounts, local-currency features and account settings can avoid or reduce the charge. The benchmark is useful precisely because it holds the conversion amount constant while exposing a cost that a zero-share-commission headline may leave outside the first comparison.[1][2][3][4]

The same transaction path, four published rates

At Interactive Brokers, automatic currency conversion is described as typically applying a 0.03% addition or subtraction to the exchange rate, without a separate conversion commission. A customer could instead place a manual currency trade under the broker’s spot-FX commission schedule, which uses a different calculation and minimums. The $6 benchmark therefore describes the automatic route selected for the comparison, not every possible way an Interactive Brokers customer can fund a foreign-currency purchase.[4]

Trading 212 states a 0.15% FX fee in its Invest and Stocks ISA context and displays the conversion cost in the order preview. It also supports multicurrency functionality, so a customer who already holds the settlement currency may avoid converting for that order. The benchmark assumes the customer starts and ends in another base currency and allows the platform to convert on both legs.[1]

XTB advertises zero commission on real-share and ETF turnover up to a monthly threshold, while separately charging 0.5% when a transaction requires currency conversion. It allows customers to hold accounts in supported currencies, creating a route around repeated conversions when the customer funds or retains the relevant currency. The $100 figure is therefore the cost of convenience under the benchmark path, not an unavoidable charge on every foreign share trade.[2]

eToro’s conversion page gives a standard 0.75% rate between supported local-currency accounts and United States dollars and describes tiered discounts for eligible club members. Its recurring-deposit waiver ended on 31 March 2026. The $150 benchmark applies the undiscounted rate twice. A customer with a qualifying discount or a balance already held in dollars would produce a different result.[3]

A round trip needs a defined denominator

“A $10,000 trade” can mean the purchase value, the cash sent before a fee or the proceeds left after a fee. To avoid false precision, this investigation uses two independent $10,000-equivalent conversions. It does not assume that exactly $10,000 remains after the first fee and then compound the second charge on a smaller balance. The method is a price-list comparison: what does each published percentage imply when applied to the same notional conversion twice?[1][2][3][4]

A realised round trip would be messier. The share price could move, the exchange rate could change, the sale proceeds could differ from the purchase amount and the fee might be deducted in a different currency. A platform may apply its conversion rate to the order consideration at execution rather than to a prefunded cash movement. Those differences are why the table should not be presented as a prediction of a specific customer’s final profit.[1][2][3][4]

Zero share commission does not mean zero transaction cost

Share commission and currency conversion pay for different services. A broker can execute an eligible stock order without a separate dealing commission and still charge to transform sterling or euros into dollars. For customers buying domestic securities, the FX line may be irrelevant. For customers repeatedly buying and selling foreign shares from a single-currency account, it can become the dominant explicit platform charge.[1][2][3][4]

At eToro’s 0.75% standard rate, the two $10,000 conversions in the benchmark cost $150. A stock would need to rise 1.5% merely to offset those two conversion charges, before spreads, tax or other costs, assuming the purchase and sale amounts were both $10,000. At XTB the equivalent hurdle is 1.0%; at Trading 212 it is 0.3%; at Interactive Brokers’ automatic rate it is 0.06%. These percentages are arithmetic translations of the fee benchmark, not expected investment returns.[1][2][3][4]

Frequency can matter more than portfolio size

A customer converting once, holding dollars for years and reinvesting within the same currency may incur the charge far less often than a customer whose platform automatically converts every purchase, dividend or sale. Conversely, a small recurring investment can pay the percentage many times while still producing the same proportional cost. The annual burden depends on conversion turnover—the sum of amounts exchanged—not simply the account’s year-end value.[1][2][3][4]

That creates a second denominator problem. Comparing an annual FX fee with average portfolio value can exaggerate or understate cost unless the researcher knows how often money crossed currencies. A better statement records each conversion amount, rate and fee, then divides total conversion cost by the total amount converted. The providers’ order previews and statements should allow the customer to reconstruct that figure.[1][2][3][4]

A percentage fee can sit inside the quoted rate

The form of disclosure also matters. Interactive Brokers describes an adjustment to the conversion rate rather than a separate commission, while the other providers describe an FX fee. A customer comparing only line-item commissions could therefore miss an economically equivalent rate adjustment. The correct test compares the all-in rate with a contemporaneous wholesale reference, while also respecting that a retail conversion occurs at a specific time and size. A fee presented inside the rate is still a customer cost even when the statement shows no separate currency commission.[1][2][3][4]

That all-in test should be performed at the same timestamp because exchange markets move continuously. Comparing a broker’s morning quote with an afternoon reference can create a false spread larger than the published charge.[1][2][3][4]

The cheapest route may not be the best total service

The table does not rank execution quality, custody, market access, spreads, tax wrappers, customer service or total portfolio cost. Interactive Brokers’ lower automatic adjustment may come with a more complex platform. A customer may value a simpler app enough to accept a higher conversion rate, or may qualify for an eToro discount. XTB’s turnover-based share commission threshold and each provider’s other charges also need to be added for a complete comparison.[1][2][3][4]

Nor does a high standard percentage prove the broker earns the full amount as profit. The provider bears currency-execution, banking, hedging and operational costs. This investigation compares the amount disclosed to the customer, not the broker’s margin. A revenue analysis would require the provider’s actual execution rate, external costs and retained spread.[1][2][3][4]

How to test an account before committing

A prospective customer can reproduce the comparison inside the platform without trading: enter a representative foreign-share order, capture the quoted FX rate and fee, then test the sale or withdrawal path. The customer should also check whether a multicurrency balance is available, whether dividends remain in the original currency, whether automatic conversion is optional, and whether membership discounts expire. The cheapest published rate is useful only if the intended account can actually use it.[1][2][3][4]

The conclusion would change if a provider revised its rate or if the customer used a different route. That is why the table records an access date and the exact assumption. Under the standard published automatic rates checked on 8 November 2026, the same two $10,000 conversions span $6 to $150. The difference is not created by the arithmetic; it is missed when a stock-pricing comparison stops at the word “commission.”[1][2][3][4]

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