Why Clients Don't Pay More Money When They Go through an IB.
Introducing Brokers are Compensated by the Brokerage or Clearing Firm (The Company that Opens the Clients' Accounts) they work with. Clients Do Not Pay higher Commissions or have Higher Spreads because they go through an Introducing Broker instead of going straight to the Clearing Firm. In fact, if a Client allows the IB to "introduce" him to the Clearing Firm, the client can be Eligible to receive Special Services that only the IB can Offer; for Example, Free Training, Special Managed Account Services, etc.
How Can the Clearing Firm Compensate the IB without Making the Client Pay for It?
Good Question. The Clearing Firm "SHARES" part of the Spread with the Introducing Broker while giving the Client Access to the Same tight Spreads that are Available to all other Clients of the Clearing Firm. The Clearing Firm depends on Introducing Brokers for a Major part of their business. Both the Clearing Firm and the Introducing Broker get compensated from the spreads that exist between the bid and ask prices for the given Currency Pairs. IB's that also introduce Managed Account customers can also receive a portion of the Money Manager's Profit or Performance Fee. Click Here to Learn more about Managed Forex IB's.
IB Compensation Diagram (for Retail or Do-it-Yourself Traders) 
Forex Introducing Broker Retail business model
Forex IB Compensation Diagram for Managed Accounts
Forex Introducing Broker Managed Accounts business model
The Above diagrams demonstrate how a Forex IB is compensated. Notice that the Managed Forex IB's have an additional source of revenue from the Money Manager's Profits (if any). Since the Forex Money Manager's compensation is based on a percentage of the Profits generated for the customer, he shares a portion of his "Profit Incentive Fee" with the IB that introduces the customer to the Money Manager. For more information on getting compensated by introducing higher Net Worth Customers to Top-Ranked Forex Money Managers, Go to the Managed Forex IB Section.
