dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

Executive Summary The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) began issuing U.S. Savings Bonds in 1935 to provide the public with simple, accessible Treasury securities to build savings and financial confidence. Within Treasury, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (Fiscal Service) is responsible for administering public debt, including the issuance and redemption of savings bonds, which are considered a contract between the U.S. government and the bond owner. Since 1935, Treasury has issued more than 6.8 billion paper savings bonds valued at more than $731 billion. Only one percent of all matured savings bonds have not been redeemed. A bond that has matured but has not been redeemed is referred to as matured, unredeemed debt (MUD). MUD is as an outstanding obligation owed by the government to the owner of the bond. The dollar value of MUD is large and continues to increase due to a number of factors, including a challenging redemption process for paper bonds. Additionally, large volumes of bonds were issued during periods when interest rates were high; as those bonds reach maturity, the amount of MUD spikes. Treasury’s efforts to increase the redemption of MUD are complicated by, among other issues, the age and quality of MUD records, a paper-based redemption process, and bond owner reluctance. Treasury has been working for more than a decade to implement new techniques and technologies to reduce the amount of MUD and ensure that the public is able to access and redeem their matured bonds. Executive Order 13968, “Promoting Redemption of Savings Bonds” (Executive Order), issued December 18, 2020, directed Treasury to continue building on existing efforts to digitize records and make information accessible that will allow the public to determine whether they are MUD owners, to conduct research to identify why savings bonds go unredeemed, and to engage with states and state associations on promoting the redemption of matured bonds. It also states: “Within 6 months of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Treasury shall publish a report on actions and initiatives undertaken by the Department to implement this order.” In accordance with the Executive Order, this report describes the status of Treasury’s efforts to promote the redemption of savings bonds through: • Updated records, • Information accessibility, • Customer research, and • Collaboration with states. In addition to providing the status of Treasury’s efforts to implement the Executive Order, this report discusses the history and attendant challenges of increasing MUD redemption and describes recent and ongoing efforts to increase redemption through data analysis and broadened communication and outreach.

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