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TreasuryDirect

This article is about the US government website. For the debt payment scheme known as "Treasury Direct Accounts", see Redemption movement.

TreasuryDirect is a website run by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service under the United States Department of the Treasury that allows US individual investors to purchase treasury securities, such as savings bonds, directly from the US government. It enables people to manage their investments online, including connecting their TreasuryDirect account to a bank account for deposits and withdrawals.

TreasuryDirect
Agency overview
Formed1986; 38 years ago (1986)
TypeUnited States Treasury security seller
Parent departmentBureau of the Fiscal Service
Website
Available inEnglish
URLwww.treasurydirect.gov
CommercialNo
Launched2002 (2002)

TreasuryDirect started in 1986 as a book entry system with business conducted over postal mail, as an alternative to purchasing securities as engraved paper certificates. The current online system launched in 2002. A replacement system known as TRIM has been in progress since 2013,[1] but after a decade of development, the project is at risk.[2]

Products and services

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A TreasuryDirect account enables purchasing treasury securities: Treasury bills, Treasury notes, Treasury bonds, Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), floating rate notes (FRNs), and Series I and EE Savings Bonds in electronic form.[3] TreasuryDirect charges no fees for opening an account, purchasing bonds, redeeming bonds, or maintaining an account.[4][5] It allows rolling repurchase of securities as the currently-held items mature.

The website allows money to be deposited from and withdrawn to personal bank accounts. A TreasuryDirect account holder can direct the Treasury to deposit all or part of their income tax refund into their account using IRS Form 8888.[6] A person can also instruct their employer to direct deposit an amount from each paycheck into their TreasuryDirect account, which replaced an earlier system where an employee could instruct their company to purchase paper bonds with a portion of their paycheck.[7]

TreasuryDirect offers a way for people to convert their paper savings bonds into book entry form (managed within the electronic system), which reduces the risk of losing paper bonds and allows redeeming bonds online.[8]

Another component is "Treasury Hunt", a tool to help the public find and cash in their mature savings bonds and other security interest payments owed to them.[9] As of 2019, the public held $26 billion of savings bonds that are no longer earning interest.[10]

TreasuryDirect includes information and research tools to help individual investors purchase and manage Treasury securities.[11] The TreasuryDirect system can be accessed via the URL wizard.gov, which formerly led to its Savings Bond Wizard tool (replaced by a Savings Bond Calculator).[12]

Account management

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Personal finance columnists have described the website as frustrating, finicky, clunky, and outdated.[13][14] After logging in, a user cannot use their web browser "back" button during their session, since that can log them out.[15]

Account registration with TreasuryDirect includes an identity verification step, and the system requires some people to complete an additional paper identity verification form and get it notarized.[16] Previously, TreasuryDirect sometimes required bringing the form to a bank or credit union for a signature guarantee.[16][17] That process could be complicated and take weeks, and US Representative Abigail Spanberger wrote a letter of concern about this to the Department of the Treasury.[17] The account process can be especially difficult for people less familiar with electronic systems.[18]

 
TreasuryDirect login screen, showing virtual keyboard

As of May 2023, the TreasuryDirect login screen allows normal entry of a password. Previously, the login screen required the user to enter their password using a virtual keyboard, which prevented copying-and-pasting a password or automatically entering a password using some password managers.[19] This virtual keyboard made using a strong password more difficult, and people made unofficial bookmarklets and browser extensions to enable pasting a password.[20]

As of December 2022, the TreasuryDirect website allows people to connect their account to a new bank account online.[21] Previously, if a person needed to correct their bank account or add a different one, they needed to complete the paper signature guarantee process.[22][23]

Related to increased demand in 2022, the TreasuryDirect customer support phone number sometimes had wait times longer than two hours.[18] TreasuryDirect says that customer requests sent by mail can take up to 13 weeks to process.[24] This can cause issues for people who need assistance with selecting and filling out the correct forms to take actions on their investments.[24]

The terms and conditions for securities purchased through TreasuryDirect are in the Code of Federal Regulations in the form of an FAQ, including details about account management.[25]

System history

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Before establishing TreasuryDirect, Treasury staff sold securities in paper certificate form to individual investors from windows in the lobbies of their office in Washington, D.C. and some Federal Reserve Banks.[26]

1980s: Postal mail

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Advertisement to the public in May 1986[27]

The TreasuryDirect service originated in 1986 as a computerized service conducted over postal mail.[28][29] Instead of issuing traditional engraved certificates, it sold notes, bonds, and bills in a computerized book-entry system; Treasury estimated that this shift would save $46 million.[30]

1990s: Telephone and website

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TreasuryDirect had 900,000 participants in 1996, which dropped in 1997 to 825,000 participants.[31] In 1997, the system, described as "suffering from pre-electronic age procedures", was updated to modernize it and encourage more people to participate.[32] The changes included enabling debits from a bank account (instead of paying by check), ordering reinvestments over a toll-free telephone number, and selling securities by mail.[33]

By 1998, the Treasury website hosted forms that a person could print out and mail to establish a TreasuryDirect account.[34] In 1999, Treasury started a separate service called Savings Bond Direct that allowed buying paper savings bonds online with a credit card and without establishing an account.[26]

2000s: Online sales

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The TreasuryDirect website started selling electronic Series I bonds online in October 2002, and it added Series EE bonds in May 2003.[35] This system was designed to support up to 80 million user accounts; by March 2004, it had 168,000 accounts.[26] Concurrent with the new system, credit card sales of savings bonds was terminated on December 31, 2003.[36]

The online TreasuryDirect service was part of Treasury's plan to stop selling paper savings bonds.[35] At the time, a Treasury official said that the cost of running the paper savings bond program was relatively high, making it ''not an efficient means of financing for the federal government".[35]

Treasury continued to offer book-entry sales via postal mail and telephone orders, calling that system Legacy TreasuryDirect to distinguish it from online TreasuryDirect accounts.[26]

In 2006, TreasuryDirect added a "virtual keyboard" to its login system for entering a password.[37]

From 2007 to 2011, the login system also required entering a random code from a card mailed to the user, which a Treasury spokesperson described as "somewhat of a stickler for us in terms of customer satisfaction."[38] This access card provided a form of multi-factor authentication, and TreasuryDirect replaced it with the more standard method of sending a one-time password to the user's email address.[39][40]

2010s: Online-only services

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Discontinued paper Series EE savings bond from 1983, with serial number in punched card format

Treasury stopped selling paper Series EE and I savings bonds on December 31, 2011, requiring people to use the TreasuryDirect website to purchase them, except for paper Series I bonds purchased using a tax return.[8] Paper savings bonds were previously a common gift that family members bought for children from a local bank or credit union,[41] but people found giving bonds in electronic form to be more complicated.[42]

However, the switch to electronic bonds did not significantly impact overall bond sales, as reported by the Government Accountability Office in 2015: "the decline in savings bond purchases after Treasury discontinued the sale of paper savings bonds in January 2012 was consistent with the overall long-term decline in savings bond purchases".[1] Savings bond purchasers tend to purchase fewer bonds when interest rates are lower, and interest rates had been declining over the past several years.[1] For example, in May 2015, new Series EE bonds earned 0.3 percent interest, and new Series I bonds earned zero percent interest at that time.[43]

In 2011, Treasury began phasing out Legacy TreasuryDirect, encouraging account holders to transition to the online system.[44] Treasury decommissioned the legacy service in 2014,[44] but continues to allow remaining account holders to hold securities to maturity or transfer securities to another account.[45]

Plans for replacement of TreasuryDirect

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In 2014, Treasury published a request for comments to inform their work on Treasury Retail Investment Manager (TRIM), a future replacement for TreasuryDirect that would be "more flexible and responsive to changing business needs for delivering digital investing needs."[46] Treasury published sources sought notices in 2015 for architectural design and fraud prevention for TRIM.[47][48] As of May 2015, Treasury was working on defining technical requirements and intending to "develop an implementation plan for TRIM by April 2016", part of a four-phase development plan: initiation, planning, execution, and closing.[1] In 2019, Treasury said that TRIM would support both laptops and mobile phones, and that it would "allow the unbanked and the under-banked to electronically purchase investments by providing alternative payment mechanisms, unlike TreasuryDirect which requires bank accounts."[49]

2020s

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During the 2021–2022 inflation surge, a number of financial planners pointed out the potential benefits of using TreasuryDirect to purchase Series I Bonds during periods of high inflation, because their return is adjusted to match inflation.[50] The annual interest rate for I Bonds was 9.62% in April 2022, the highest inflation rate since this type of bond was introduced in 1998.[51] People opened 1.85 million new savings bond accounts between November 2021 and the end of June 2022.[17] In May 2022, the TreasuryDirect website crashed at least once related to increased demand.[18]

TreasuryDirect is part of the Treasury Retail Securities Services program,[52] and a 2022 Treasury budget document said "In FY 2020, Retail began development work to replace its aging TreasuryDirect (TD) application ... With the deployment of TRIM, Retail will also roll out a new type of savings security for the public."[53] A Treasury spokesperson also said in March 2022 that they were working on a replacement system.[23]

In October 2022, TreasuryDirect updated its public informational website to make it easier to navigate and understand for investors looking for answers about bonds and other Treasury products.[54] At that time, Treasury said they had sold $27 billion in I Bonds since increasing the interest rate in November 2021, compared to $364 million in 2020.[54] Near the end of October 2022, in the last few days that TreasuryDirect offered the 9.62% rate, the website saw a surge of new customers and was slow or unavailable to access for some people who had wanted to buy I Bonds.[55] Treasury said it could not guarantee that all orders would be completed in time to receive the 9.62% rate,[55] and that the volume of purchases was causing "significant pressure and strain on the 20-year-old TreasuryDirect application".[56]

Nearly a decade after the initial request for comments, Treasury officials stated in March 2022 that TRIM/MyTreasury remains "a priority."[57] In June 2023, it was announced that there is a high risk to the TRIM/MyTreasury project due to ongoing challenges related to delivery of core functionality, coding, defects, testing, and environments. At the same time, an independent verification and validation was undertaken to assess opportunities to improve processes and controls.[2]

Similar programs

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The National Treasury of Brazil has an online service called Tesouro Direto (Treasury Direct) that sells public bonds to individuals in Brazil, established in 2002.[58]

The federal government of Mexico established cetesdirecto (Treasury Certificates Direct) in 2010 to enable small and medium investors to purchase government securities online, by phone, and at customer service windows.[59]

The Bank of Spain offers a Cuentas Directas (direct accounts) service to residents of Spain who want to purchase newly-issued Spanish Treasury securities.[60]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "U.S. Savings Bonds: Future of Offering Paper Savings Bonds at Tax Time Is Uncertain, and Lower-Income Households Continue to Face Savings Challenges" (PDF). U.S. Government Accountability Office. July 2015. pp. 10–12. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Business Case". Federal IT Dashboard. General Services Administration. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  3. ^ "Treasury Securities & Programs". TreasuryDirect. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  4. ^ "TreasuryDirect Help: Frequently Asked Questions". TreasuryDirect. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  5. ^ "My Accounts: TreasuryDirect". TreasuryDirect. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  6. ^ "Grow your tax refund with savings bonds". The Orlando Sentinel. January 27, 2019. pp. H8. Retrieved August 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Buying savings bonds has become easier". The News-Star. Monroe, Louisiana. Gannett News Service. February 6, 2005. p. 34. Retrieved September 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b "Answers regarding savings bonds". The Ville Platte Gazette. January 5, 2012. p. 3. Retrieved August 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Public Debt Launches Treasury Hunt, New Web site Helps Public Find Money And Bonds". TreasuryDirect. February 5, 2001. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  10. ^ "The Fiscal Service Announces Treasury Hunt Matured Savings Bond Search Tool". TreasuryDirect. December 30, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  11. ^ "Tools". TreasuryDirect. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  12. ^ Girardin, Lauren (March 3, 2015). "The 13 Most Bizarre .Gov Domains". GovLoop. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  13. ^ Butler, Peter (August 30, 2022). "I Bonds' Record-High Rates Are Worth the Hassle: How to Purchase Savings Bonds Online". CNET. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  14. ^ Wang, Penelope (May 11, 2022). "How I Bonds Help You Fight Inflation". Consumer Reports. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  15. ^ Wells, Charlie (April 14, 2022). "A Year of Inflation-Beating Yields With No Risk? Time May Be Running Short". Bloomberg News. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  16. ^ a b Nguyen, Janet (November 3, 2023). "TreasuryDirect improves user experience for buying I bonds". Marketplace. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  17. ^ a b c Dore, Kate (July 14, 2022). "Lawmaker urges Yellen, Treasury Department to remove 'red tape' for Series I bonds". CNBC. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  18. ^ a b c Singletary, Michelle (May 20, 2022). "Inflation-linked U.S. bonds crashed the TreasuryDirect website". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  19. ^ Dore, Kate (June 29, 2022). "'It's like going to the DMV online': What to know about buying Series I savings bonds via TreasuryDirect". CNBC. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  20. ^ Sit, Harry (January 31, 2022). "How To Use Password Manager with TreasuryDirect for I Bonds". The Finance Buff. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  21. ^ Sit, Harry (January 9, 2022). "Where to Get a Signature Guarantee for I Bonds at TreasuryDirect". The Finance Buff. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  22. ^ Singletary, Michelle (June 22, 2022). "This inflation-proof bond is paying 9.62%. Here's how to buy it". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  23. ^ a b Carrns, Ann (March 11, 2022). "Government Site for Buying Savings Bonds Shows Its Age". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  24. ^ a b Wilson, Diane (August 19, 2022). "Raleigh man forced to jump through hoops to get access to his own money". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  25. ^ 31 CFR 363
  26. ^ a b c d Glaessner, Thomas C.; Kantur, Zeynep (2004). Two Case Studies on Electronic Distribution of Government Securities: The U.S. TreasuryDirect System; The Philippine Expanded Small Investors Program. World Bank Publications. pp. 6–10.
  27. ^ "Public Seminar: Treasury Direct". The Atlanta Constitution. May 17, 1986. p. 43. Retrieved August 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ Alt Powell, Eileen (August 14, 2002). "Several ways to buy Treasury securities". The Greenville News. Greenville, South Carolina. Associated Press. p. 33. Retrieved August 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ Doyle, Bill (April 18, 1986). "Treasury Bills Buyers' Best Bet is 'Non-Competitive'". Logansport Pharos-Tribune. p. 26. Retrieved August 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "No more certificates: U.S. Treasury will send out statements". The News Tribune. Tacoma, Washington. Knight-Ridder Newspapers. May 23, 1986. p. 38. Retrieved August 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "Treasury eases way for small investors". The Times-News. Twin Falls, Idaho. Newsday. September 7, 1997. p. 30. Retrieved August 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ Currier, Chet (October 19, 1997). "Funds aren't always the answer: Some needs call for a different investment strategy, option". The Sheboygan Press. Associated Press. p. 30. Retrieved August 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ "Treasury improves investment service". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Bloomberg News. September 5, 1997. p. 42. Retrieved August 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ "Treasuries-by-phone sales set to begin tomorrow". The Boston Globe. Reuters. October 4, 1998. p. 87. Retrieved August 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ a b c Fuerbringer, Jonathan (May 6, 2003). "Treasury Is Moving to Make All Savings Bond Sales Online". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  36. ^ Plaehn, Tim. "Can I Still Purchase Savings Bonds Using My Credit Card?". Finance - Zacks. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  37. ^ Bruene, Jim (August 11, 2006). "TreasuryDirect adds Virtual Keyboard". Finovate. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  38. ^ Hunsberger, Brent (November 10, 2011). "Treasury gets rid of website's cumbersome access card, making buying savings bonds easier". The Oregonian/OregonLive. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  39. ^ Ping, Jonathan (November 8, 2011). "TreasuryDirect.gov Security Login Changes 2011". My Money Blog. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  40. ^ Enna, David (October 7, 2022). "A nostalgic look back at TreasuryDirect's 'decoder ring' login system". Tipswatch. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  41. ^ Block, Sandy (September 5, 2010). "Grandparents' favorite gift, Savings Bonds, join e-world by going paperless". Great Falls Tribune. USA Today. p. 35. Retrieved August 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  42. ^ Tompor, Susan (December 13, 2012). "Savings Bonds used to be an easy holiday gift. Now? Not so much". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. USA Today. pp. A8. Retrieved August 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  43. ^ Carrns, Ann (May 28, 2015). "Appeal of Savings Bonds Wanes in Ultralow Interest Environment". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  44. ^ a b "Legacy Treasury Direct Accounts: Default call-in appointments encourage account holder response" (PDF). Office of Evaluation Sciences, General Services Administration. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  45. ^ "Individual - Legacy Treasury Direct Phaseout". TreasuryDirect. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  46. ^ "Proposed Collection of Information: TreasuryDirect System". Federal Register. 79: 44491. July 31, 2014.
  47. ^ "TRIM Architectural Design Review and Assessment". System for Award Management. General Services Administration. March 5, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  48. ^ "TRIM – Fraud Prevention". System for Award Management. General Services Administration. June 16, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  49. ^ "Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service: Congressional Budget Justification and Annual Performance Report and Plan, FY 2019" (PDF). U.S. Department of the Treasury. p. 22. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  50. ^ Singletary, Michelle (May 3, 2022). "Now is a good time to buy this inflation-indexed savings bond". Washington Post. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  51. ^ Carrns, Ann (May 3, 2022). "Inflation bonds are earning eye-popping rates: 9.62 percent". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  52. ^ "Who to Contact for Savings Bond Inquiries". TreasuryDirect. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  53. ^ "Department of the Treasury Fiscal Service: FY 2022 Capital Investment Plan" (PDF). U.S. Department of the Treasury. p. 30. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  54. ^ a b Dore, Kate (October 4, 2022). "TreasuryDirect sold more than $27 billion in Series I bonds since Nov. 1. Now it's getting a makeover". CNBC. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  55. ^ a b Dagher, Veronica. "Treasury Sold $3.4 Billion in I Bonds This Week as Investors Rushed to Get 9.62% Rate". WSJ. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  56. ^ Iacurci, Greg (October 28, 2022). "Demand for Series I bonds crashes TreasuryDirect ahead of key deadline to secure 9.62% rate". CNBC. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  57. ^ Carrns, Ann (March 11, 2022). "Government Site for Buying Savings Bonds Shows Its Age". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  58. ^ Proite, André (August 17, 2009). "Part III, Chapter 7: Treasury Direct: Internet public securities retail sales program". Dívida Pública: A Experiência Brasileira. World Bank and National Treasury of Brazil. pp. 393–394.
  59. ^ Tapia-Rangel, Claudia (April 30, 2014). "The Mexican Government Securities Market: III. Investor Base". Banco de México. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  60. ^ "Review of the Spanish Government Securities Market" (PDF). Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. December 14, 2021. p. 4. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
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