As of April 11, the U.S. Treasury Department said it will cease paying fees to credit unions, banks and savings bond agents for redeeming savings bonds.
Bonds must be received by the Treasury Retail Securities site at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis by 12:30 p.m. CT on April 10 in order to receive an EZ Clear redemption fee.
This change coincides with the move of redeemed bond processing from EZ Clear to image-enabled bond processing, which will occur on April 16, according to Treasury. The EZ Clear program will be decommissioned following the transition.
Savings bond agents are currently paid 30¢ for each redeemed savings bond submitted.
There are currently more than 679 million paper bonds worth $180 billion dollars in circulation, according to the Treasury Department.
The agency estimates that the move from paper to electronic bonds will save $70 million in taxpayer funds over five years.
