TreasuryDirect Factsheet
About TreasuryDirect
TreasuryDirect allows individuals to purchase, manage, hold
and redeem their Treasury securities through an online account with the
U.S. Department of Treasury. The entire line of Treasury consumer
securities is available in TreasuryDirect, including Bills, Notes,
Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), Bonds and savings
bonds.
When individuals purchase
securities through TreasuryDirect, they do not receive paper securities.
Instead, an electronic security is listed in their on-line account where
the owner can view it, track its value, transfer it, sell it, or redeem
it anytime after the minimum holding period, depending upon the type of
security.
Benefits of Using TreasuryDirect
TreasuryDirect simplifies the
lives of Americans who now use the Internet at work and at home. Individuals can purchase Treasury
securities 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by accessing their account from
any place with a secure Internet connection. The convenience of
TreasuryDirect makes it possible for individuals to purchase and manage
their Treasury securities - all in a single account with the click of a
mouse.
Making all Treasury securities
available to the public electronically through the TreasuryDirect website
results in cost savings over time.
TreasuryDirect enables a direct
relationship between customers - individuals and financial professionals
alike - and the U.S. Treasury. The TreasuryDirect.gov site provides
complete information for people who want to buy securities directly from
the Treasury - in a way that's easy for everyone to
understand.
Opening an Account
Opening
a TreasuryDirect account is
easy to do and available to anyone age 18 or older with Internet access.
Completing the online application form takes 10 minutes or less.
Applicants will need the following information: their e-mail address;
Social Security Number (tax identification number); driver's license
or state identification number, and expiration date; and bank routing
transit number and savings or checking account number. The bank account
information is needed for electronic transfer of funds for security
purchases, redemptions, and maturity/interest payments. Applicants choose
a password, a password reminder, and security questions to ensure
confidential account access. Within a few minutes of completing the
process, applicants receive an e-mail with their TreasuryDirect account
number. To find out more, take a Guided
Tour.
Automatic payroll deductions can
be made toward the purchase of Treasury securities via TreasuryDirect.
With this flexible feature, if an employer's payroll system has a
direct deposit deduction available, employees can opt to have a portion
of their pay transferred to their TreasuryDirect accounts for the
purchase of electronic securities.
Security and Privacy
For the first time in a federal
government e-business application, new customers can identify themselves
in an all-electronic transaction and be authenticated by the
Treasury's Pay.gov system. This authentication system matches key
information customers enter when completing the online application form
with that in trusted Government and commercial databases.
All private information exchanged
during transactions is protected by 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
encryption.
TreasuryDirect includes an
"Investor Inbox" where customers receive important messages in
a secure electronic environment as opposed to paper or insecure e-mail.
The "Investor Inbox" contains messages sent to you if we have difficulty verifying the
accuracy of your bank information, delivering a payment, or debiting your
checking or savings account. We may also send you informational messages
helpful to your account management.
Purchasing Increments
Because I bonds and EE bonds are
in electronic form in TreasuryDirect, individuals can purchase them in
penny increments, from $25 up to $5,000 each year. (In paper form, these
bonds were only available in specific denominations.)
Bills, Notes, Bonds, and TIPS are
available in $100 increments, with a minimum purchase of $100.
Individuals can also monitor their accounts 24 hours a day, seven days a week from any secure Web portal.
Savings Bonds as a Gift
A "Gift Box" function allows customers to buy savings bonds for someone else and keep the bonds in their own account until they are ready to give them to the recipient. To purchase an electronic savings bond as a gift, the account holder needs to know the recipient's full name and Social Security Number and/or taxpayer ID number. The gift bond is placed in the "Gift Box" until the account holder obtains the TreasuryDirect account number of the recipient and is ready to transfer the bond into the recipient's account. The gift recipient will then receive an e-mail announcing the transfer of the bond. Anyone 18 years of age or older can be a TreasuryDirect account holder.
Treasury Bills, Notes, Bonds, and TIPS
Customers may purchase, hold, transfer, and sell Bills, Notes, Bonds, and TIPS in TreasuryDirect. Bidding noncompetitively couldn’t be easier. Schedule purchases up to five years in the future. TreasuryDirect automatically assigns projected auction availability dates according to the frequency you select. Use Zero-Percent C of I as a maturity payment destination then schedule your next security purchase with C of I as the source of funds and you’ve created your own “rollover” or “reinvestment” without having to send or phone in instructions. Best of all, your transactional history records are available in an instant.
For Holders of Paper Savings Bonds
Savings Bond
Wizard: Maintain an
inventory of your paper savings bonds and determine the current
redemption value, earned interest and other information with this
downloadable Windows® program.
Savings Bond
Calculator: This calculator
lets you find out what your paper savings bonds are worth today right
from your Web browser. It also allows you to create and save an inventory
of your bonds.
Information about the Bureau of the Public Debt
TreasuryDirect.gov serves as the
retail site for all Treasury securities. Please visit www.publicdebt.treas.gov for organizational information about the Treasury's
Bureau of the Public Debt.
All press kit materials can be
found in this Newsroom.
Contact Information
For more information about TreasuryDirect, send us an e-mail.