Treasury Notes: How To Buy
You can buy Treasury notes directly from the U.S. Treasury or through a bank, broker, or dealer.
Buying Directly From the U.S. Treasury
To buy a note directly from us, you must have an account in TreasuryDirect. (We no longer sell notes in Legacy Treasury Direct, which we are phasing out.)
To open an account in TreasuryDirect, go to "Open An Account" and supply the requested information.
Decide How To Bid
You can enter either a noncompetitive bid or a competitive bid.
With a noncompetitive bid, you agree to accept whatever yield is determined at auction. If you bid this way, you are guaranteed to receive the security you want, in the amount you want.
With a competitive bid, you specify the yield you will accept. If you bid this way, you may or may not receive the security you want, and, if you receive it, you may receive it in less than the amount you want. To bid competitively, you must use a bank, broker, or dealer.
Submit a Bid in TreasuryDirect
The bid submission process in TreasuryDirect is completely online. Login to your account and from the "My Accounts" page, click on the BuyDirect® tab, select Notes, click on the security you wish to purchase, the amount of your purchase, and whether you wish to reinvest this security. Follow the prompts to complete your transaction.
Within TreasuryDirect, you also can set up reinvestments into securities of the same type and term. For instance, you can use the proceeds from a maturing 5-year note to buy another 5-year note.
Also, from the "My Accounts" page, you can quickly purchase a security using Purchase Express. With this functionality, you select the type of security and the purchase amount. The system uses your preferred registration and the primary bank you identified in your account, and schedules your purchase for the next available auction date.
Payments and Receipts in TreasuryDirect
The price that you pay for a note can include either a premium or a discount, and accrued interest. For a full discussion of the price of a security, see Treasury Notes: Rates and Terms.
When you buy a note in TreasuryDirect, we withdraw the purchase price from the source of funds you specify, which could be one of your bank accounts or your Certificate of Indebtedness (C of I). When the note matures, we deposit payments into your bank account or your C of I, whichever you specify.
Buying Through a Bank, Broker, or Dealer
To place a competitive bid, you must use a bank, broker, or dealer. You also can bid noncompetitively using a bank, broker, or dealer. For more information, consult a bank, broker, or dealer.
