Also known as:Swap Rebate, Overnight Financing Share, Rollover Commission
What is Swap Commission?
Swap Commission is a partner payout in which the broker shares a portion of the overnight financing fees — swaps — charged to an IB's clients for holding positions open past the daily rollover. It is a rebate stream tied to how long clients hold trades, not how often they trade.
A swap is the interest adjustment applied to a leveraged position held overnight, derived from the interest-rate differential between the two currencies (or the financing cost of a CFD). When a client is charged a negative swap, part of that fee can be routed back to the introducing partner if a swap-commission deal is in place.
Key takeaways
Swap commission shares overnight financing fees, not lot volume.
Ideal for books of swing and position traders who hold for days or weeks.
Rarely automatic — must be negotiated into the IB agreement.
Swap-free (Islamic) accounts generate zero swap commission.
Wednesday rollovers carry a triple charge to cover the weekend.
This matters most for partners whose clients are swing or position traders. A scalper opening and closing 50 lots a day generates rich per-lot rebates but almost no swap; a position trader holding 10 lots of USD/TRY for three weeks may generate modest lot volume but substantial daily financing charges. A swap-commission deal captures value from that second profile that a pure lot rebate would miss.
Swap commission is comparatively rare and almost never automatic. Standard IB agreements usually settle only on lot volume and explicitly exclude swaps from the revenue pool. To earn it, a partner must negotiate it into the contract up front — and be aware that swap-free (Islamic) accounts, which pay no swaps at all, produce zero swap commission by design.
How it works
Each trading day at rollover (commonly 21:00 or 22:00 server time, with a triple charge on Wednesdays to cover the weekend), the broker debits or credits swap on every open position based on the instrument's long and short swap rates.
Where a swap-commission agreement exists, the broker's back office tags a defined share of the net swap fees paid by the IB's clients and adds it to the partner's payout alongside — or instead of — lot rebates. The rate is negotiated as a percentage of collected swap or a per-lot-per-night figure, and reporting is separate from standard volume rebates.
1
Profile your client base
Determine whether your traders mostly scalp intraday or hold multi-day positions that accrue swaps.
2
Negotiate swaps into the agreement
Explicitly add a swap-commission clause; standard IB contracts exclude swap fees by default.
3
Confirm the share basis
Agree whether you earn a percentage of net swap collected or a fixed per-lot-per-night amount.
4
Exclude swap-free accounts from forecasts
Islamic swap-free accounts pay no swap, so they generate no swap commission — model them separately.
5
Reconcile swap reports monthly
Check the broker's swap ledger against your own to verify the share was credited correctly.
Why it matters for partnership: For IBs whose clients hold trades for weeks, lot rebates alone undervalue the book. A negotiated swap-commission deal captures overnight financing fees, turning long-term position traders into a steady, semi-passive income stream.
Formula
Swap Commission = Net swap fees paid by clients × Agreed IB share %
Real World Example
An IB on FBS refers a group of carry traders who hold high-swap pairs like USD/TRY for weeks. Their lot volume is only 200 standard lots a month, but they accrue about $9,000 in net swap charges. With a negotiated 20% swap-commission deal, the IB earns $1,800 from swaps — income a pure per-lot rebate would have missed entirely.
Lot rebate vs swap commission
Dimension
Lot rebate
Swap commission
Paid on
Traded volume (lots)
Overnight financing fees
Best client type
Scalpers, high-frequency
Swing / position traders
Availability
Standard in most deals
Rare, must be negotiated
Swap-free accounts
Still earn rebates
Earn nothing
Pro Tip
If your community trades daily and weekly charts and holds positions for weeks, negotiate a swap-commission clause before you send a single lead — it is nearly impossible to add retroactively.
Common Pitfalls
Assuming you already earn swap commission; most standard IB agreements exclude swap fees from the revenue-share pool entirely unless you have explicitly negotiated them in writing.
FAQ
What is the difference between a swap and swap commission?
A swap is the overnight financing fee a trader pays to hold a position. Swap commission is the share of that fee a broker rebates to the introducing partner.
Do all brokers offer swap commission to IBs?
No. It is comparatively rare and usually excluded from standard agreements. You generally have to negotiate it into your contract specifically.
Why do my swap-free clients generate no swap commission?
Islamic swap-free accounts charge no overnight financing at all, so there is nothing to share. Model those clients separately in your forecasts.
How is swap commission calculated?
Typically as an agreed percentage of the net swap fees your clients pay, or a fixed amount per lot per night. Confirm the exact basis in your agreement.
Which clients are best for swap commission?
Swing and position traders who hold leveraged positions for days or weeks, especially on high interest-rate-differential pairs, accrue the most swap.
Can swap commission be added to my existing deal later?
Sometimes, but it is far easier to secure up front. Raise it during initial negotiation rather than assuming it can be bolted on retroactively.
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