Treasury Bills: How To Buy
You can buy Treasury bills directly from the U.S. Treasury or through a bank, broker, or dealer.
Buying Directly From the U.S. Treasury
To buy Treasury bills directly from us, you must have an account in TreasuryDirect. (We no longer sell bills 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 discount rate 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 discount rate 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 is completely online. Login to your account and from the "My Accounts" page, click on the Buy Direct® tab, select Bills, click on the security you wish to purchase, the amount of your purchase, and, if you wish to reinvest this security, the number of reinvestments. 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 52-week bill to buy another 52-week bill.
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 then schedules your purchase for the next available auction date.
Payments and Receipts in TreasuryDirect
When you buy a bill 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 bill matures, we deposit the proceeds 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.
