An introducing broker (IB) is a person or business that refers customers to a trading provider and is compensated for those referrals. The partner code you enter in registration is often the IB's attribution route — which is why a working code is evidence of a relationship, not evidence of a bonus.
The short version
Providers acquire customers through several channels: their own marketing, affiliates, educators and introducing brokers. The IB brings a customer to the provider, the provider records who introduced the account, and the IB is paid according to an agreed model. The customer's registration link or code is the mechanism that makes that attribution possible.
The IB relationship explains the code. The provider's current terms decide what the code does for you.
How attribution works
Attribution can travel through a tracked link, a cookie, or a code entered in the registration form. AvaTrade's help centre, for instance, documents a partner-code field during registration. Entering the IB's code there tells the provider which introducer brought the account in. Without that field, the provider cannot reliably pay the introducer — and without code-specific terms, the customer cannot assume a special deal exists.
Why an IB code is not a benefit
Compensation flows from the provider to the introducer. That payment can exist even when the customer receives nothing extra, or when the customer-facing benefit differs by market and product. The three public records on Broker.codes show the range:
- AvaTrade 128979 was supplied with a 20% welcome-bonus claim that remains partially verified because no current code-specific public terms confirm the exact rate.
- TABTrade TABFDB2k carries a supplied 15% claim that conflicts with a separate public 10% campaign, and the discrepancy stays visible.
- XM QK44F is published with the benefit explicitly unknown because XM says bonuses vary by region and no exact public benefit was found.
Each of those codes is real supplied inventory. None of them is treated as a promise until provider-facing terms support the exact claim.
Different models, same need for terms
IBs can be paid per referral, per account funded, or on a share of trading volume. Some arrangements also attach a customer benefit, such as a deposit bonus or spread discount. The model matters for the introducer's income, but the customer's question stays the same: what does the current terms document say the code does for this account in this market?
That is why Broker.codes keeps the provider, product, market, offer and attribution route as separate recorded facts. An IB relationship explains the existence of a code. Only current code-specific terms can explain its value.
What to ask before using an IB code
- Is the code entered in the provider's designated partner or referral field?
- Do current provider terms attach a benefit to this exact code?
- Is the benefit available for my country, account type and product?
- What are the deposit, volume, withdrawal and expiry conditions?
- Does the introducing page clearly disclose that the introducer may be compensated?
- Does anything claim the code reduces risk? That claim is false by construction.