Ten things you should know about ending savings bond sales at your financial institution

From: EPCOR News, Dec. 20, 2011

As previously announced by the Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Public Debt, paper savings bonds will no longer be sold at financial institutions as of January 1, 2012. This action supports the Treasury’s goal to increase the number of electronic transactions with citizens and businesses, and is expected to save American taxpayers approximately $70 million over the first five years.

In order to provide additional details about this change, here is a list of 10 things you should know about ending over-the-counter sales of paper savings bonds at your financial institution:

1. Paper savings bond sales end after December 31, 2011. As of January 1, 2012, paper savings bonds will no longer be sold at financial institutions.
2. You have five business days to submit final orders. Financial institutions will have the usual five business days after December 31, 2011, to submit their final orders for paper savings bonds to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Final orders should arrive by January 9, 2012.
3. You might need to adjust your final processing schedule. If your institution routes savings bond applications through a centralized point, you may want to expedite that process for your final submissions to make sure the applications arrive on time.
4. Respond quickly if there are errors in your submission. If your final purchase applications contain errors, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis will contact you to resolve them. You must respond within 24 hours. After that time the application will be rejected and the funds returned.
5. Resolve customer order errors quickly. If you notice errors on a member’s order before it is submitted, you will need to quickly resolve them since all final submissions are due by January 9, 2012.
6. Paper reissues will continue. Paper bonds will continue to be reissued on request, so financial institutions will be able to resolve any problems with bonds ordered in prior months just as they always have, for example citing an incorrect customer name or Social Security Number.
7. Claims will continue. The claims process will also remain the same if you have any issues with paper bonds not received in the mail by customers.
8. Pay special attention to orders accepted on December 31, 2011. If you take savings bond orders on Saturday, December 31, 2011, please ensure your system does not automatically label them as January issues. Please clearly mark the date funds were received and get the applications to Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis by January 9, 2012. For applications entered electronically using Savings Bonds Direct®, please be sure to key in the actual receipt date (December 31, 2011, or before). If your bond submission process is automated and will automatically show the January receipt date, you may want to stop taking savings bond applications a little before the December 31, 2011 end date.
9. You can continue to redeem savings bonds for customers. This change affects only sales of paper savings bonds. Paper bonds held by the public can be redeemed at financial institutions, reissued on request or held to maturity.
10. Toolkit available to help. There is a toolkit available for financial institutions. It contains materials that can be downloaded and distributed to customers. Including a tip sheet for members on how to set up a TreasuryDirect® account to purchase electronic savings bonds and make gift purchases

Remind your members that they can go to www.treasurydirect.gov to buy, manage and redeem electronic savings bonds and other Treasury securities online, 24/7.

If you have additional questions about this change, you may review the set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) or contact the Savings Bond Processing Site at (800) 553-2663.

Source: FedFlash