How to Securely Convert Paper Savings Bonds to Electronic Securities

Recently, when the US Treasury Department decided not to use paper bonds any longer, they asked all holders to securely convert their paper bonds to electronic bonds (which they call eBonds). Use these steps to make the conversion.

Part 1
Part 1 of 2:

Via Technology

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    Gather together all your paper US savings bonds.
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    Visit the TreasuryDirect webpage.
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    Login to your TreasuryDirect account.[1]
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    Locate and click the "ManageDirect(r)" link from the toolbar. It'll be just underneath the TreasuryDirect icon.
    • Create a "Conversion Linked" account, using the page that results - then click the "Create Account" button to verify that you want to create a conversion account.
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    Click the "Convert My Bonds" link.
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    Enter the requested information for each bond. You will need the bonds' series type (E, EE, or I), serial numbers, face value amounts and issue dates of these documents.
    • Don't sign the back of your bonds however, You aren't redeeming them, you're merely converting them into their digital counterpart form. TreasuryDirect will digitally take care of this for you at redemption time - so that you don't even need to lift a single finger.
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    Click "Submit to Cart" to submit each bond to the cart.
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    Click the "View Cart" button. You will find this button over on the right-hand side of the page, just below the toolbar.
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    Create the manifest. Click the "Create a Manifest" button.
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    Verify that you really want to do this, for security purposes. Type in the correct answer to the security question into the Answer field.
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    Print a copy of the manifest sheet. Use the "Print Manifest" button to send it to your printer to be printed. You will need to send this paperwork to TreasuryDirect to process your bond conversion.
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Part 2
Part 2 of 2:

Dealing with the Documents

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    Sign the document that you printed. There should be a signature page you need to sign, but again do not sign the back of your bond(s).
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    Mail the document along with the unsigned bond(s) to the Treasury Department at the address below and wait for three-to-four weeks for the conversion to take place.[2]
    • Department of the Treasury
      Bureau of the Public Debt
      PO Box 7015
      Parkersburg, WV 26106-7015
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    Can I deposit a savings bond into my bank account?
    The_Trojan_Ghost
    The_Trojan_Ghost
    Community Answer
    Most financial institutions will redeem your savings bonds. If your bank does not, it should be able to point you to a bank that will handle the redemption. You also could convert your paper bonds to electronic form through TreasuryDirect.gov and then redeem them into your bank account.
  • Question
    Can I use a list of my paper bonds to create an electronic bond?
    The_Trojan_Ghost
    The_Trojan_Ghost
    Community Answer
    Yes. There is a website that does this for you called Treasury Direct. You will have to create an account if you haven't already.
  • Question
    Can I use a list of my paper bonds to create an electronic bond?
    Zin Thiri
    Zin Thiri
    Community Answer
    Once your TreasuryDirect account is set up, log in, go to ManageDirectSM and click on the link “Establish a Conversion Linked Account,” which appears in the “Manage My Linked Accounts” menu.
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Warnings

  • When you enter your one-time passcode to start the process with TreasuryDirect, be sure to check the "Remember Me" box and avoid clearing your browser's cookies. This should prevent their having trouble later recognizing you and your computer.
    ⧼thumbs_response⧽
  • You will need to print out the conversion document and send it in with your bond(s) in order for the bonds to appear on your list.
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  • Do NOT sign the back of your paper bonds.
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  • If at any time during the conversion process, you press any of the browser's buttons (such as Back, Forward, Refresh or Home) you'll be automatically logged out and will have to log back in from the beginning.
    ⧼thumbs_response⧽
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Things You'll Need

  • computer (PC or Mac), mouse and keyboard
  • Internet access
  • US savings bond(s) to convert
  • printer
  • envelope
  • pen for writing the address on the envelope

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References

  1. ↑ https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/indiv_login.htm
  2. ↑ https://www.treasurydirect.gov/write.htm
  3. https://www.finra.org/investors/learn-to-invest/types-investments/bonds/types-of-bonds/us-savings-bonds
  4. https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/research/articles/res_invest_articles_smartexchange_0508.htm
  5. https://www.savingsbond.gov/indiv/research/indepth/smartexchangeinfo_conversion_faqs.htm
  6. http://treasurydirect.gov/indiv/research/indepth/smartexchangeinfo.htm - research reference

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 58,994 times.
25 votes - 72%
Co-authors: 8
Updated: May 1, 2020
Views: 58,994
Categories: Financial Bonds
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