How to Redeem a Stock Certificate

Video Transcript

"So how to redeem a stock certificate. A number of different ways of doing that. Most commonly, you would take your certificate to your local brokerage, give them the certificate. What they'll do is they'll transfer that over and get that put into the computer system and get it issued to you, so it's something you can look at on your monthly statement rather than actually holding the physical certificate. You can also work with the investment bank that issues the certificates and do it directly. Also, you can take your certificate to the company that issued it, if that's how you got your certificates. More than often, if you're working directly with a company or the investment bank has issued the stock, they try to keep things in a format where it's more easily traded, it's on your statement, and you're not physically holding the certificate. But if you do have a certificate, the easiest way, really, is to take it to a storefront location -- some brokerage house that's close by -- for a fee. They will have you sign it over and that will be put into a format -- these days, usually on the computer, so it's something you can read on your monthly statement. And then you can sell that certificate at your leisure."