The U.S. Department of the Treasury will end over-the-counter sales of paper savings bonds on December 31, 2011, including sales through financial institutions and applications mailed directly to the Federal Reserve Bank by customers. This move is expected to save taxpayers an estimated $70 million over the next five years.

Although paper bonds are being discontinued, electronic Series EE and Series I Savings Bonds will remain available for purchase via TreasuryDirect. This secure, web-based system, operated by the Bureau of the Public Debt, has been used by investors since 2002 to purchase savings bonds online.

As a trusted resource for savings bond buyers, feel free to bring any questions you may have to us and we will try our best to get them answered. Customers can still purchase, manage and redeem electronic savings bonds online through www.treasurydirect.gov. Electronic savings bonds are secure and convenient to manage through TreasuryDirect, and investors no longer have to worry about misplacing, losing or storing savings bonds. In addition, with a TreasuryDirect account, customers can purchase electronic savings bonds as gifts and also convert paper savings bonds to electronic.

We will stop accepting applications for paper savings bonds after December 31, 2011. Customers have until the close of business on that day to submit their final purchase applications and funds. Final applications mailed directly to the Federal Reserve by customers must be received by December 31, 2011.

Although we will stop accepting applications for paper savings bonds we will continue to redeem them for our customers. You may also like to hear that paper bonds which have not yet matured but are lost, stolen or destroyed can be reissued in paper or electronic form.