To fill out the back of a savings bond, find the box labeled “Request for Payment,” print your full legal name exactly as it appears on the front, write in your Social Security number and current mailing address, and sign in the signature line using dark ink. That is the whole requirement for a bond you plan to cash in person at your own bank. If the bonds you are redeeming add up to more than $1,000, or if you are mailing them to the Treasury, there are extra steps covered below.
The Four Things That Go on the Back
Flip the bond over. The “Request for Payment” section has spaces for the information the Treasury needs to pay you and report the interest to the IRS.1eCFR. 31 CFR Part 353 – Regulations Governing Definitive United States Savings Bonds, Series EE and HH
- Your full legal name, printed to match the registration on the front of the bond.
- Your Social Security number. The Treasury uses it to verify your identity and to issue a Form 1099-INT for the interest you earned.
- Your current mailing address: street, city, state, and ZIP. If payment comes as a check, it goes here.
- Your signature in the signature area, in dark ink so it stays legible if the bond is scanned.
That is the minimum. Do not sign the bond until you are standing in front of the person who will cash it or certify your signature. A pre-signed bond that goes missing is a problem; an unsigned one is just paper.
When You Need Your Signature Certified
Whether a certifying officer has to stamp the bond turns on the total redemption value in the batch you are cashing. If that total is more than $1,000, every person who signs must appear before a certifying officer, prove their identity, and have the signature certified with an official seal or stamp.2TreasuryDirect. Special Form of Request for Payment of United States Savings and Retirement Securities For $1,000 or less, certification generally is not required when you cash at a bank where you already have an account.
Authorized certifying officers include officers of U.S. banks and trust companies, officers at institutions in the Federal Home Loan Bank System (including federal savings and loan associations), and officers at Federal Reserve Banks. Certain government officials, commissioned military officers (for service members and their families), and U.S. diplomatic representatives abroad also qualify.3GovInfo. 31 CFR 353.55 – Certifying Officers A notary public also counts, though some bank branches will tell you otherwise; FS Form 1522 explicitly lists a notary seal as acceptable.2TreasuryDirect. Special Form of Request for Payment of United States Savings and Retirement Securities
Bring a current government-issued photo ID: a driver’s license, U.S. passport, or state ID. The officer confirms you are the person named on the bond, then adds their signature, title, seal or stamp, address, and the date next to yours.
Special Situations That Change What You Write
Your Name Has Changed Since the Bond Was Issued
If marriage, divorce, or a court order changed your name, you sign using both your current name and the former name, and show how the change happened. The regulation gives this format: “Mary T. Jones Smith changed by marriage from Mary T. Jones.” Writing “formerly known as” by itself is not enough. You can instead ask for the bond to be reissued in your new name before cashing it, which adds a step most people skip.1eCFR. 31 CFR Part 353 – Regulations Governing Definitive United States Savings Bonds, Series EE and HH
The Bond Is Co-Owned
A paper bond registered with two names joined by “or” (“Jane Doe OR John Doe”) can be cashed by either person alone. One signature is enough. If both co-owners want to redeem it together, the Treasury issues a check payable to both names joined by “and.”1eCFR. 31 CFR Part 353 – Regulations Governing Definitive United States Savings Bonds, Series EE and HH
You Are a Parent Cashing a Young Child’s Bond
If the child who owns the bond is too young to understand the transaction, a parent (not a step-parent) can cash it on their behalf. Write a statement on the back of the bond along these lines: “I certify that I am the parent of [child’s name]. [Child’s name] resides with me” (or “I have been granted legal custody of [child’s name]”). Include the child’s age and Social Security number in the statement, then sign your own name “on behalf of [child’s name], a minor.”4TreasuryDirect. Cashing Paper Bonds for a Young Child
If the Social Security number printed on the front of the bond is not the child’s, write the child’s actual SSN on the back. A child who does not yet have one will need to get a Social Security number before the bond can be cashed on their behalf.5TreasuryDirect. The Guide to Cashing Savings Bonds – Special Cases: Parents
If You Are Mailing the Bond to the Treasury, Do Not Sign It
There is one scenario where you should leave the back of the bond blank: when you mail the bond in for redemption instead of cashing it at a bank. In that case you do not sign the bond at all. You fill out FS Form 1522, which is a separate “detached request” for payment, and send it in with the unsigned bonds.6TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds
The steps:
- Download FS Form 1522 from TreasuryDirect.gov and complete it with your name, Social Security number, address, the bond serial numbers, and bank routing and account numbers for direct deposit.
- Get your signature on the form certified if the total redemption value is more than $1,000.2TreasuryDirect. Special Form of Request for Payment of United States Savings and Retirement Securities
- Mail the unsigned bonds and the completed form to Treasury Retail Securities Services, P.O. Box 9150, Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150.7TreasuryDirect. Who to Contact for Savings Bond Inquiries
Use certified or registered mail. The Treasury does not take responsibility for bonds lost in transit. Processing typically takes at least six weeks after the bonds arrive.8TreasuryDirect. Contact Us – TreasuryDirect FS Form 1522 is also the right choice when you are cashing a stack of bonds at once and want to list them on a single document rather than filling out the back of each one.9Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service. FS Form 1522 – Special Form of Request for Payment of United States Savings and Retirement Securities Where Use of a Detached Request Is Authorized
Cashing at a Bank After You Sign
If you are walking into a bank or credit union where you already have an account, sign the back in front of the teller, show your ID, and the teller processes payment on the spot. A financial institution qualified as a paying agent redeems the bond at its current value at no charge.10eCFR. 31 CFR Part 351 – Offering of United States Savings Bonds, Series EE
Two practical limits. Banks are not required to cash bonds for non-customers, and the Secret Service recommends that a customer have been established at the institution for at least 12 months before cashing bonds there; many banks follow that guidance.11Federal Reserve Financial Services. Savings Bond Redemptions Frequently Asked Questions Banks also set their own ceilings on how much they will cash at once, so call ahead if you are bringing in a large batch.6TreasuryDirect. Cashing EE or I Savings Bonds
Check Before You Sign
A paper savings bond cannot be cashed until at least 12 months after its issue date. Redeeming before five years costs you the last three months of interest as a penalty, so a bond cashed at 18 months pays only 15 months of interest.12TreasuryDirect. EE Bonds After five years, no penalty. Both Series EE and Series I bonds reach final maturity 30 years after issue and stop earning interest at that point.13eCFR. 31 CFR Part 351 Subpart B – Maturities, Redemption Values, and Investment Yields of Series EE Savings Bonds
Before you fill in the back, run the serial number through the TreasuryDirect Savings Bond Calculator to see the bond’s current value, interest earned, and maturity date.14TreasuryDirect. Paper Savings Bond Calculator That tells you whether to sign now or wait, and whether certification will be required based on the total.