ACH Transfer from Personal Bank Account to Investment Club Fidelity Brokerage Account

Ian Munro on

My objective is to streamline the member payment process for the investment club in which I participate.

Has anyone successfully (and securely) setup ACH transfer to a Fidelity brokerage account?

I was able to setup the investment club brokerage account as an external account and transfer funds from my bank into the brokerage account. My bank used the microdeposit protocol to verify the brokerage account.

My concern is whether I now have authority to transfer funds from the investment club brokerage account to my personal bank account. Obviously, if this is the case, then the risk of rolling this capability out to all club partners would be unacceptable.

I realize I could simply enter a transfer transaction, but perhaps someone has already been down this path?

ira smilovitz on

I would check with Fidelity. I know you can set up direct bank->Fidelity EFTs and FedWire transfers although the mechanics are different. I don't know if the reverse direction is available. I would think not as most brokers insert as many obstacles as possible before they transfer any assets beyond their control.

Ira Smilovitz

On Sun, Jul 23, 2023 at 5:04 PM Ian Munro via bivio.com <user*39995800001@bivio.com> wrote:

My objective is to streamline the member payment process for the investment club in which I participate.

Has anyone successfully (and securely) setup ACH transfer to a Fidelity brokerage account?

I was able to setup the investment club brokerage account as an external account and transfer funds from my bank into the brokerage account. My bank used the microdeposit protocol to verify the brokerage account.

My concern is whether I now have authority to transfer funds from the investment club brokerage account to my personal bank account. Obviously, if this is the case, then the risk of rolling this capability out to all club partners would be unacceptable.

I realize I could simply enter a transfer transaction, but perhaps someone has already been down this path?

Melinda Speak on

Please removed my email mjspeak@gmail.com from your mailing list. I must have subscribed by mistake & can't see how to undo it myself.

Thanks,

Melinda Speak

On Jul 24, 2023, at 12:05 PM, ira smilovitz via bivio.com <user*2883400001@bivio.com> wrote:

I would check with Fidelity. I know you can set up direct bank->Fidelity EFTs and FedWire transfers although the mechanics are different. I don't know if the reverse direction is available. I would think not as most brokers insert as many obstacles as possible before they transfer any assets beyond their control.

Ira Smilovitz

On Sun, Jul 23, 2023 at 5:04 PM Ian Munro via bivio.com <user*39995800001@bivio.com> wrote:
My objective is to streamline the member payment process for the investment club in which I participate.

Has anyone successfully (and securely) setup ACH transfer to a Fidelity brokerage account?

I was able to setup the investment club brokerage account as an external account and transfer funds from my bank into the brokerage account. My bank used the microdeposit protocol to verify the brokerage account.

My concern is whether I now have authority to transfer funds from the investment club brokerage account to my personal bank account. Obviously, if this is the case, then the risk of rolling this capability out to all club partners would be unacceptable.

I realize I could simply enter a transfer transaction, but perhaps someone has already been down this path?

Fred Tonnies on

Has anyone been able to transfer stocks to a member that is leaving the club that has Schwab as their broker.

Ameritrade and Fidelity do it.

Fred

On Monday, July 24, 2023 at 02:05:45 PM CDT, Melinda Speak via bivio.com <user*30643000001@bivio.com> wrote:

Please removed my email mjspeak@gmail.com from your mailing list. I must have subscribed by mistake & can't see how to undo it myself.

Thanks,

Melinda Speak

On Jul 24, 2023, at 12:05 PM, ira smilovitz via bivio.com <user*2883400001@bivio.com> wrote:

I would check with Fidelity. I know you can set up direct bank->Fidelity EFTs and FedWire transfers although the mechanics are different. I don't know if the reverse direction is available. I would think not as most brokers insert as many obstacles as possible before they transfer any assets beyond their control.

Ira Smilovitz

On Sun, Jul 23, 2023 at 5:04 PM Ian Munro via bivio.com <user*39995800001@bivio.com> wrote:
My objective is to streamline the member payment process for the investment club in which I participate.

Has anyone successfully (and securely) setup ACH transfer to a Fidelity brokerage account?

I was able to setup the investment club brokerage account as an external account and transfer funds from my bank into the brokerage account. My bank used the microdeposit protocol to verify the brokerage account.

My concern is whether I now have authority to transfer funds from the investment club brokerage account to my personal bank account. Obviously, if this is the case, then the risk of rolling this capability out to all club partners would be unacceptable.

I realize I could simply enter a transfer transaction, but perhaps someone has already been down this path?

Lee Weygandt on

We have done this a few times, our account is with E*Trade.com

Lee Weygandt, Treasurer

Market Miners Investment Club

On 7/24/2023 3:18 PM, Fred Tonnies via bivio.com wrote:

Has anyone been able to transfer stocks to a member that is leaving the club that has Schwab as their broker.

Ameritrade and Fidelity do it.

Fred

On Monday, July 24, 2023 at 02:05:45 PM CDT, Melinda Speak via bivio.com <user*30643000001@bivio.com> wrote:

Please removed my email mjspeak@gmail.com from your mailing list. I must have subscribed by mistake & can't see how to undo it myself.

Thanks,

Melinda Speak

On Jul 24, 2023, at 12:05 PM, ira smilovitz via bivio.com <user*2883400001@bivio.com> wrote:

I would check with Fidelity. I know you can set up direct bank->Fidelity EFTs and FedWire transfers although the mechanics are different. I don't know if the reverse direction is available. I would think not as most brokers insert as many obstacles as possible before they transfer any assets beyond their control.

Ira Smilovitz

On Sun, Jul 23, 2023 at 5:04 PM Ian Munro via bivio.com <user*39995800001@bivio.com> wrote:

My objective is to streamline the member payment process for the investment club in which I participate.

Has anyone successfully (and securely) setup ACH transfer to a Fidelity brokerage account?

I was able to setup the investment club brokerage account as an external account and transfer funds from my bank into the brokerage account. My bank used the microdeposit protocol to verify the brokerage account.

My concern is whether I now have authority to transfer funds from the investment club brokerage account to my personal bank account. Obviously, if this is the case, then the risk of rolling this capability out to all club partners would be unacceptable.

I realize I could simply enter a transfer transaction, but perhaps someone has already been down this path?

Steve Foster on

Fred,

Schwab has transferred stocks from our club account to an individual Schwab brokerage account on 2 occasions, but the last one was 8-9 years ago. We just gave them a list of the stocks, how many shares, and the name/account # to transfer to and they did it the day we requested it or could have been the next day (I don't remember). Both withdrawing members had to open Schwab brokerage accounts to make this work.

Steve Foster

Circle of Friends

On Monday, July 24, 2023 at 12:19:04 PM PDT, Fred Tonnies via bivio.com <user*37292300001@bivio.com> wrote:

Has anyone been able to transfer stocks to a member that is leaving the club that has Schwab as their broker.

Ameritrade and Fidelity do it.

Fred

On Monday, July 24, 2023 at 02:05:45 PM CDT, Melinda Speak via bivio.com <user*30643000001@bivio.com> wrote:

Please removed my email mjspeak@gmail.com from your mailing list. I must have subscribed by mistake & can't see how to undo it myself.

Thanks,

Melinda Speak

On Jul 24, 2023, at 12:05 PM, ira smilovitz via bivio.com <user*2883400001@bivio.com> wrote:

I would check with Fidelity. I know you can set up direct bank->Fidelity EFTs and FedWire transfers although the mechanics are different. I don't know if the reverse direction is available. I would think not as most brokers insert as many obstacles as possible before they transfer any assets beyond their control.

Ira Smilovitz

On Sun, Jul 23, 2023 at 5:04 PM Ian Munro via bivio.com <user*39995800001@bivio.com> wrote:
My objective is to streamline the member payment process for the investment club in which I participate.

Has anyone successfully (and securely) setup ACH transfer to a Fidelity brokerage account?

I was able to setup the investment club brokerage account as an external account and transfer funds from my bank into the brokerage account. My bank used the microdeposit protocol to verify the brokerage account.

My concern is whether I now have authority to transfer funds from the investment club brokerage account to my personal bank account. Obviously, if this is the case, then the risk of rolling this capability out to all club partners would be unacceptable.

I realize I could simply enter a transfer transaction, but perhaps someone has already been down this path?

Ian Munro on

Thanks, Ira.

I plan to process a test withdrawal next month to see what happens. I am hopeful that Fidelity restricts withdrawals (although I see that they permit the withdrawal associated with the microdeposit account veriification protocol). I don't want to risk authorizing a disgruntled club member to withdraw $100K from the club account!

mjboyd on

Ian,

Adding in a bit from our experience at Fidelity, this may not work the way
you are hoping for.

Background - Fidelity investment club user for 6+ years and generally good
for our club. But we've never gotten ACH payments to work with them. We
collect paper checks and deposit via the mobile app by a club officer with
authorized user privileges on the Fidelity account.

To deposit via ACH to Fidelity, they require you to be authorized and
electronically link your accounts - either other Fidelity accounts or
external bank accounts as you noted. Authorized users on a Fidelity account
generally have full trade and cash management privileges (whatever your club
has authorized). They can move money in or out. All transactions send
notifications to authorized users. Fidelity considers non-authorized users
as Inquiry Only members who can see all transactions, balances and
statements, but cannot execute transactions, including deposits and
withdrawals. Our account is setup with officers as Authorized Users and the
remaining members as Inquiry Only users.

Fidelity does say they will accept deposits from Bill Pay from other banks.
We found that many banks did not send it electronically, but via a paper
check.
Fidelity also will accept deposits by mail directly from members. We found
both methods resulted in delays/uncertainty on when funds would hit our
account to execute investment transactions. This ranged from 2-14 days for
us. We last tried this in 2021.

Using the mobile deposit option, we found funds are typically available
within a business day in our Fidelity account.

Pro tip for getting good advice from them: Ask to open a support case (they
will provide a case number) and ask for escalation to their backoffice team
that deals with partnerships and investment clubs. Provide some convenient
times to have a call. The people that know the details of their policies and
processes are there, just not on the front line call centers. If you have a
local Fidelity advisor for your personal accounts, leverage them to escalate
for you - it does speed up the process.

Keep us posted on your findings!

- Michael Boyd, Salt Pond Investment Club

-----Original Message-----
From: club_cafe@bivio.com <club_cafe@bivio.com> On Behalf Of Ian Munro via
bivio.com
Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2023 6:46 PM
To: club_cafe@bivio.com
Subject: [club_cafe] Re: ACH Transfer from Personal Bank Account to
Investment Club Fidelity Brokerage Account

Thanks, Ira.

I plan to process a test withdrawal next month to see what happens. I am
hopeful that Fidelity restricts withdrawals (although I see that they permit
the withdrawal associated with the microdeposit account veriification
protocol). I don't want to risk authorizing a disgruntled club member to
withdraw $100K from the club account!

ira smilovitz on

Michael raises an interesting point which may be relevant to my earlier posting. I am not certain whether the member(s) of my club that have made electronic transfers into our club's Fidelity account have used traditional ACH transfers or BillPay type transfers. I only know that they have been successful.

His comments about escalating your questions to the back office are spot on. I know that I have spent quite a bit of time on the phone with the back office personnel making sure that we understood everything that needed to be done as we had a very large transfer being made. We even went so far as to get instructions for using FedWire for the transfer. (Trust me when I say you don't want to do that.)

Ira Smilovitz

On Wed, Jul 26, 2023 at 8:30 AM Michael Boyd via bivio.com <user*37394800001@bivio.com> wrote:

Ian,

Adding in a bit from our experience at Fidelity, this may not work the way
you are hoping for.

Background - Fidelity investment club user for 6+ years and generally good
for our club. But we've never gotten ACH payments to work with them. We
collect paper checks and deposit via the mobile app by a club officer with
authorized user privileges on the Fidelity account.

To deposit via ACH to Fidelity, they require you to be authorized and
electronically link your accounts - either other Fidelity accounts or
external bank accounts as you noted. Authorized users on a Fidelity account
generally have full trade and cash management privileges (whatever your club
has authorized). They can move money in or out. All transactions send
notifications to authorized users. Fidelity considers non-authorized users
as Inquiry Only members who can see all transactions, balances and
statements, but cannot execute transactions, including deposits and
withdrawals. Our account is setup with officers as Authorized Users and the
remaining members as Inquiry Only users.

Fidelity does say they will accept deposits from Bill Pay from other banks.
We found that many banks did not send it electronically, but via a paper
check.
Fidelity also will accept deposits by mail directly from members. We found
both methods resulted in delays/uncertainty on when funds would hit our
account to execute investment transactions. This ranged from 2-14 days for
us. We last tried this in 2021.

Using the mobile deposit option, we found funds are typically available
within a business day in our Fidelity account.

Pro tip for getting good advice from them: Ask to open a support case (they
will provide a case number) and ask for escalation to their backoffice team
that deals with partnerships and investment clubs. Provide some convenient
times to have a call. The people that know the details of their policies and
processes are there, just not on the front line call centers. If you have a
local Fidelity advisor for your personal accounts, leverage them to escalate
for you - it does speed up the process.

Keep us posted on your findings!

- Michael Boyd, Salt Pond Investment Club

-----Original Message-----
From: club_cafe@bivio.com <club_cafe@bivio.com> On Behalf Of Ian Munro via
bivio.com
Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2023 6:46 PM
To: club_cafe@bivio.com
Subject: [club_cafe] Re: ACH Transfer from Personal Bank Account to
Investment Club Fidelity Brokerage Account

Thanks, Ira.

I plan to process a test withdrawal next month to see what happens. I am
hopeful that Fidelity restricts withdrawals (although I see that they permit
the withdrawal associated with the microdeposit account veriification
protocol). I don't want to risk authorizing a disgruntled club member to
withdraw $100K from the club account!

Mail