I recently helped a friend set up a brokerage account at Fidelity and thought I would share the experience.
Step 1 was to open a new brokerage account. The account was to be registered as a trust, but we were able to complete and submit the application online. It then took Fidelity two business days to open the account.
Step 2 was to add a bank (to fund the brokerage account). We did not see a way to do this online, so we called Fidelity. The Fidelity rep said that because it was a trust account, we would have to download a PDF, fill it out, and mail it back in. We did that, but instead of mailing it in, we took it over to a local Fidelity office, and they scanned it in for us. It then took 5 business days for Fidelity to set up the bank.
Step 3 was to link the bank account to the brokerage account. We didn't have to initiate any tasks, we just had to wait for Fidelity to action this item. This took 7 business days.
The entire process took three calendar weeks, but all went well, and my friend now has an active Fidelity brokerage account. He was a bit miffed that it took so long, but I'm glad that it did. I'd rather that Fidelity take the time to dot all the i's and cross all the t's, and (I hope) conduct a number of fraud prevention steps along the way.
FWIW.
Step 1 was to open a new brokerage account. The account was to be registered as a trust, but we were able to complete and submit the application online. It then took Fidelity two business days to open the account.
Step 2 was to add a bank (to fund the brokerage account). We did not see a way to do this online, so we called Fidelity. The Fidelity rep said that because it was a trust account, we would have to download a PDF, fill it out, and mail it back in. We did that, but instead of mailing it in, we took it over to a local Fidelity office, and they scanned it in for us. It then took 5 business days for Fidelity to set up the bank.
Step 3 was to link the bank account to the brokerage account. We didn't have to initiate any tasks, we just had to wait for Fidelity to action this item. This took 7 business days.
The entire process took three calendar weeks, but all went well, and my friend now has an active Fidelity brokerage account. He was a bit miffed that it took so long, but I'm glad that it did. I'd rather that Fidelity take the time to dot all the i's and cross all the t's, and (I hope) conduct a number of fraud prevention steps along the way.
FWIW.
Statistics: Posted by Gaston — Fri Sep 13, 2024 2:24 pm — Replies 2 — Views 305