The information provided below is based on our experience with assisting shareholder seeking to deposit shares with their brokerage firm and may have changed since this article was written. The information provided here is by no means intended to represent policy or procedure for any custodian or brokerage firm specified.
IMPORTANT: West Coast Stock Transfer, Inc. cannot initiate electronic transfers into a brokerage firm. We can only act on requests made from brokerage firms. All transfers from a transfer agent into a brokerage account must be initiated by the receiving brokerage firm.
Charles Schwab & Co. (Schwab) accounts have the ability to initiate a transfer request online from a non-Schwab or external account which includes transfer agents.
Before you start the transfer process:
Be sure you have the information about your account and security held with West Coast Stock Transfer, Inc. This information may be found online or on your Statement of Account.
Ensure your shares of stock are in Unrestricted Book or DRS Balance on your Statement of Account. This may be found on your Statement of Account under Book-Entry Shares Details.
Once logged into your Schwab account, select Transfer Account from the Move Money menu option (shown below).
The webpage will ask for the firm you're transferring the account from. Type "West Coast Stock Transfer, Inc." in the search field and click Search. The search will likely return a message stating that it did not recognize the firm but it will provide the option to continue with the name as entered (shown below).
The next screen will ask for additional information about your account held at West Coast Stock Transfer, Inc.:
Additional information | Response |
Type of Firm (pull down): | Transfer Agent |
Type of West Coast Stock Transfer, Inc. Account: | The response is based on how the name found under the Shareholder Registration Details on your Statement of Account reads. For example, if the details read John Doe followed by the address, the type of account would be Individual. If the the details read John Doe & Jane Does JT TEN, the type of account would be Joint. The account type for your brokerage firm will likely need to match the account type with West Coast Stock Transfer, Inc. |
Transfer Account To: | Select the appropriate response. |
The next screen will ask for information about the asset you intend to transfer and your account number with West Coast Stock Transfer, Inc. All responses for these questions may be found on your Statement of Account.
Asset Information | Response |
How are your shares of stock held? | Select "Book entry / dividend reinvestment plan" |
Are the shares restricted? | Provided the shares shown on your Statement of Account do not show in the Restricted Book balance the response should be "No." |
Symbol or CUSIP: | Enter the appropriate response. The CUSIP is located on your Statement of Account under Security Details. |
West Coast Stock Transfer, Inc. Account Number: | In most cases, this is located on your Statement of Account under your name and address as SHAREHOLDER ACCOUNT #. This number can be as small as one-digit which may be problematic for Fidelity. We recommend using the six-digit number SHAREHOLDER # found at bottom of the statement. Either number is acceptable to WCST to transfer assets. |
How many shares would you like to transfer? | Select the appropriate response. |
The remaining questions and steps will request you to further verify the information and based on all the information provided you should receive further instruction on what is needed for Schwab to process the transfer. This may include additional paperwork. In most all cases, you will need to provide the brokerage firm a copy of your Statement of Account.