Also known as:Spread Markup, Mark-up Spread, IB Markup, Pip Markup
What is Spread Mark-up?
Spread Mark-up is an IB compensation arrangement where the broker widens the spread on referred clients' trades by a set amount, and pays that added portion to the IB. If the broker's raw EUR/USD spread is 0.2 pips and the IB adds a 0.8-pip mark-up, the client trades at 1.0 pip and the IB keeps the 0.8-pip difference on every lot.
The mark-up is expressed in pips and converts to cash through pip value. On a standard EUR/USD lot, one pip is worth about $10, so a 0.8-pip mark-up earns roughly $8 per lot traded, per round turn. Mark-up income scales with client volume, not with whether the client wins or loses.
Key takeaways
You add pips to the raw spread and keep the difference
One pip on a standard EUR/USD lot is about $10
Income scales with volume, independent of client win/loss
Clients pay it directly as a wider spread
Keep it modest on liquid pairs or clients comparison-shop
Suppose a referred client trades 50 standard lots of EUR/USD in a month at a 0.8-pip mark-up. That produces about $400 in mark-up revenue for the IB that month. Double the mark-up to 1.6 pips and revenue doubles, but so does the client's visible trading cost, which is where the model becomes self-limiting.
Because the client directly pays the mark-up as a worse spread, aggressive mark-ups degrade execution quality and invite comparison shopping. The skill of the model is pricing the mark-up low enough to stay competitive while high enough to fund your service.
How it works
The broker's system adds your agreed mark-up to the raw spread before the price reaches your referred clients. The client sees and pays the combined spread; the broker retains the raw portion and credits the mark-up portion to your partner account.
Mark-up is volume-based income. It accrues on every round turn the client completes, multiplied by pip value and lot size, and is entirely independent of whether the client is profitable. That makes it a cleaner, less conflicted model than sharing in client losses, but it still adds directly to the client's cost of trading.
Because the mark-up is visible in the client's dealing spread, it is competitively constrained. Clients comparing your conditions against a direct broker account or a rival IB will notice a wide spread on liquid pairs, so most durable IBs keep mark-ups modest and concentrate them where competition is thinner.
1
Agree a mark-up in pips
You and the broker set the added spread, for example 0.5 to 1.0 pip on major pairs.
2
Broker widens the client spread
The raw spread plus your mark-up becomes the price your referred clients trade on.
3
Client trades the marked-up price
Every round turn charges the combined spread, which the client pays as trading cost.
4
Broker splits the spread
The raw portion stays with the broker; the mark-up portion is credited to your partner account.
Why it matters for partnership: Mark-up lets you monetise every referred lot regardless of client outcome, and you control the rate. But clients feel it as a worse spread, so setting it too high drives churn; the lever must be tuned, not maxed.
An IB partnered with FP Markets sets a 0.7-pip mark-up on major forex pairs. A referred client trades 60 standard lots of EUR/USD across the month. At roughly $10 pip value, the 0.7-pip mark-up earns the IB about $420 that month, funded by the marginally wider spread the client pays on each trade.
Spread Mark-up vs Spread Share
Factor
Spread Mark-up
Spread Share
Client's spread
Widened by the IB
Unchanged from raw
IB controls rate
Yes, sets the pips
No, fixed % of raw spread
Transparency to client
Client pays visibly more
Identical to direct pricing
Churn pressure
Higher if aggressive
Lower, no cost penalty
Best when
You add clear extra value
You compete on price
Pro Tip
If you apply a mark-up, justify the extra cost with exclusive value like mentorship, signals, or proprietary tools, so clients see a fair trade rather than a hidden tax.
Common Pitfalls
Adding a 2-pip mark-up on a hyper-competitive pair like EUR/USD makes your conditions visibly worse than the market and pushes clients toward a cheaper IB or broker.
FAQ
How much mark-up can I add?
Technically the broker sets the ceiling, but competitively you should keep it modest on liquid pairs, often 0.3 to 1.0 pip, or clients will notice and leave.
Do I earn mark-up even if my client loses?
Yes. Mark-up is volume-based and accrues on every completed round turn regardless of whether the client's trade is profitable.
How is mark-up different from spread share?
Mark-up widens the client's spread and you keep the extra pips; spread share pays you a percentage of the unchanged raw spread, so the client's cost is not increased.
How do I convert a pip mark-up into dollars?
Multiply the mark-up in pips by the pip value and the lots traded; on a standard EUR/USD lot one pip is about $10.
Will clients be able to see my mark-up?
Not as a separate line, but they see the resulting wider spread, so anyone comparing conditions to a direct account can infer it.
Is spread mark-up allowed under regulation?
It is a common, permitted IB model, but you must market it honestly and not misrepresent trading costs; disclosure rules vary by regulator such as the FCA, CySEC, or ASIC.
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