Options accounts & routing
What is the best strategy to route an options order to minimize exchange access fees?
By Easy Money Scanner · Educational reference · Not investment advice
The short answer
Minimizing exchange access fees generally involves routing orders toward exchanges offering maker rebates for posting liquidity rather than taker fees for removing it, which smart order routers can automate based on real-time fee schedules.
How it works
US options exchanges operate varied maker-taker or taker-maker fee models, so posting limit orders on rebate-paying venues versus crossing the spread on fee-charging venues changes net execution cost.
An example
A trader posting a resting limit order on an exchange with a maker rebate may earn a small per-contract credit instead of paying a take fee for immediately crossing the spread.
Risk & limitations
Chasing rebates by always posting passively can result in missed fills or adverse selection risk, so execution priority should not be sacrificed purely to capture small fee rebates.
Examples are hypothetical, not trade recommendations. US contract and regulatory references do not automatically apply in Canada. Rules, margin requirements and broker policies can change; confirm them with the relevant authority and your broker.