Robinhood is the most beginner friendly stock trading platform available today. But at some point, you may find that you are looking for more features from your current brokerage platform.
One competitive choice you might want to look at is Fidelity, which also has an excellent reputation.
Fidelity has earned some of the industry’s highest accolades. It was rated Best Online Broker in 2020 by Barron's and Investor's Business Daily. It was also named #1 for Order Execution and #1 for Research by StockBrokers.com in 2020.
Still on the fence? Check out our comparison article on Robinhood vs Fidelity here.
If you decide to make the change from Robinhood to Fidelity, here's the process for making the switch!
You can transfer your Robinhood stocks and cash to Fidelity through the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service (ACATS).
When you transfer stocks or cash from Robinhood to an outside brokerage such as Fidelity, there is a $75 fee (whether you are doing a full or partial transfer of your account), which will be debited from your Robinhood account’s available cash balance.
Be sure to resolve any account restrictions or negative balances in your account prior to requesting a transfer, or your transfer may be delayed.
Transferring from Robinhood to Fidelity is actually pretty quick and can be accomplished in a few steps. Let's jump in.
You will need to give Fidelity your Robinhood Securities (RHS) account number.
You can find this information in your mobile app:
You may need to reference a DTC number for your transfer. Robinhood’s DTC number is 6769.
Fidelity will most likely ask you for a copy of your most recent statement from Robinhood, so it is good to have that on hand as well. You can download a copy from the Robinhood website. This will also have your account number listed on it.
To start an online transfer, you will need:
Fidelity does not charge a fee to move assets from another institution; however as stated above, Robinhood charges $75.
To initiate the transfer, you will need to login in to your fidelity account or create an account if you do not already have one. Once logged in you will complete the following:
After you initiate a full transfer, your account will be restricted to ensure the transfer is processed in an organized way. However, keep in mind that you'll still own the securities or positions during this time, and they'll update in the app to reflect their current market value.
If you have any fractional shares during a full account transfer, they will be sold, and the resulting funds will be transferred to the other brokerage as cash.
Any options contracts you have will also be transferred to Fidelity. Options that expire within 5 business days do not transfer.
Robinhood does support cryptocurrency trading. However, crypto assets cannot be transferred at this time. Your only option for transferring is to liquidate these funds into cash for the cash to be transferred.
Keep in mind, this could result in paying taxes on capital gains.
Transferring funds and assets from Robinhood to Fidelity is actually pretty simple if you gather your information beforehand. You will need your Robinhood account number and a recent statement. Robinhood will also charge you $75 dollars for the transfer.
While the transfer is processing, your account will be locked to ensure proper operations. Should you have any questions, you can reach out to the Fidelity customer support team.