Same thing happened to me right after I opened my account. I never did receive this "security card". After several calls and e-mails to customer service I decided it just wasn't worth the headaches and wasted time.I closed the account and opened with TOS. My time and peace of mind are worth much more than trying save a few dollars on commissions.
As has been said before, your account can be enabled if you don't have the security card. But now you created yourself another problem. No account number? You mean you never received a notice of an account statement? Never kept something from opening that had the number? Geezuz. Yeah right...IB is a joke. LOL. OldTrader PS. the other suggestion was to call Hong Kong. Of course, without your account number who knows what they can do.
Sniff..... Sniff Sniff..... Sniff Sniff Sniff..... Am I detecting another bulllshit IB-bashing thread? Anyone else getting this smell from you screen?
I have a pop email account and all my emails are are at work. I am at home without the account number. So you are saying that you can't call customer service without your account number? I would be willing to bet that every other broker in the country would just ask for your user id and ask some security questions. If your account number is so important why don't you log in with it? Why even use a user id? Yes, IB is a joke if you can't call them after hours with an issue.
Despite the odd hanger on BSAM I think this is a genuine problem. Assuming its all on the up and up ... you could call the IB Hong Kong number if the US is closed. With skype its a couple of cents per minute. +852-2156-7907 I see what you mean about needing the device to log into AM. It seems that if you want access you'll need to call HK or wait for the US office to open. Without your account number you may have difficulty ... IB are security conscious to the point of paranoia so you may just have to wait until you're at work.
No I'm not saying you can't call customer service. Except they're closed...as YOU said. You can call them tomorrow morning. In the meantime, you're out of service. But the next problem is that when you call, how do they know it's you? They take this security stuff seriously. I really hope that presents no problem for you. But again, you could call Hong Kong. I don't know what they will do without an account number. They may not have the facilities to know that you are who you say you are. I guess the other alternative is that you could go to work and get your email. Or, you can sit here and blame IB. LOL. OldTrader
harkm, You did ask for it by the thread title. I am sympathetic to your issue ... but why must people on this site forever use such stupid titles. Its like the reviews of software where someone gives it a 1 on all areas because they don't like one little bit of it --- OTT. You do need to have your account number at home as well. It was a nice morning on SPI and STW ... time for lunch. Good luck with the trades.