Take a last look at paper Savings Bonds
The Treasury Department have just announced that after 76 years, paper Savings Bonds will no longer be sold at banks and credit unions.
Buyers of Savings Bonds after Dec. 31 will need to purchase them electronically through TreasuryDirect.gov, a Web-based program offered by Treasury’s Bureau of Public Debt.
Public Debt Commissioner Van Zeck stated that moving from paper to electronic Savings Bonds will save the government $70 million over the next five years. He added, “That’s a real economic advantage to Treasury in these times when we really need to look at the cost of government programs.”
Treasury has offered Savings Bonds through TreasuryDirect since 2002, but acceptance has been slow. Of the $1.2 billion in Savings Bonds purchased from October 2010 to June 30, 2011, only 11% were bought through TreasuryDirect.
Treasury hopes the phaseout of paper will give savers the push to embrace electronic Savings Bonds, Zeck says. Electronic Savings Bonds are less likely to be misplaced, he says, and are automatically redeemed when they mature.
It is estimated by Treasury that more than $16 billion in unredeemed Savings Bonds owned by forgetful buyers are no longer earning interest.
Still, millions of Americans don’t have Internet access. Only 44% of Americans age 65-73 have broadband at home, from a 2010 survey by the Pew Research Center. For Americans 74 and older, the percentage is 20%.
Still, this is the trend of the future and it was only a matter of time before the government moved to the online format
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