You can cash a savings bond at most banks and credit unions if it’s a paper bond, or through your TreasuryDirect account if it’s electronic. When a bank won’t process the redemption, or the bond has complications like a deceased owner, you mail it to the U.S. Treasury with FS Form 1522. One rule applies everywhere: no savings bond can be cashed until at least 12 months after its issue date, and cashing before five years costs you the last three months of interest.1TreasuryDirect. Cash EE or I Savings Bonds
Paper Bonds at a Bank or Credit Union
A bank or credit union that acts as a paying agent for the Treasury is the fastest place to cash a paper bond. Federal regulations require these institutions to redeem eligible bonds during regular business hours for any presenter, customer or not, as long as the presenter can establish identity as the owner or co-owner named on the bond.2eCFR. 31 CFR 321.10 – Responsibilities of Paying Agents
Bring the original bond and a valid government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license or passport. The teller verifies your identity, confirms the bond’s current value, and pays you in cash or by deposit to an account. Most transactions are handled on the spot.
Not every branch will do it. Some are not set up to process bond redemptions, and some cap single-day redemptions at an internal dollar limit. If one branch turns you away, ask for a referral to another location, or fall back to mailing the bond in.
Electronic Bonds Through TreasuryDirect
If you bought your bonds electronically, you cash them online without going anywhere. Log in to your TreasuryDirect account, open ManageDirect, and under “Manage My Securities” choose “Redeem securities.”1TreasuryDirect. Cash EE or I Savings Bonds
You can redeem any amount of $25 or more. If you cash only part of a bond, you have to leave at least $25 behind in it. The money is deposited into the bank account linked to your TreasuryDirect profile.
Mailing Paper Bonds to the Treasury
When no bank can process your redemption, or the bond has a complication a teller can’t handle, you mail the bonds to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. This is also the route for older Series E bonds and savings notes, and for bonds with a deceased owner, damage, or alterations.
Download FS Form 1522 from TreasuryDirect.3TreasuryDirect. FS Form 1522 The form asks for the names shown on each bond’s registration, the issue date and serial number, your Social Security number and home address, and your bank’s routing and account information for direct deposit.
How you sign the form depends on the dollar amount. If the total redemption value is $1,000 or less, sign it yourself and enclose a copy of your driver’s license, passport, state ID, or military ID. If the total is more than $1,000, you must sign in the presence of a certifying officer, typically an officer at a bank or credit union, who applies the institution’s official seal or a signature guarantee stamp.4TreasuryDirect. Signature Certification
Send the signed form and the physical bonds to:
Treasury Retail Securities Services
P.O. Box 9150
Minneapolis, MN 55480-91503TreasuryDirect. FS Form 1522
Use registered or certified mail so the certificates are tracked and insured in transit. Processing takes at least six weeks if the bonds are in your name, and at least two months if you’re handling them for someone else, such as a deceased owner’s estate.5TreasuryDirect. Contact Us Funds arrive by direct deposit to the account on the form, or as a paper check if you leave that blank.
When You Can Cash and What It Costs You
You cannot cash any EE or I savings bond until at least one year after its issue date.1TreasuryDirect. Cash EE or I Savings Bonds There’s no exception to that one-year lockup for standard redemptions, though the Treasury may waive it for bonds affected by a federally declared disaster.
Cash before five years and you forfeit the last three months of interest. Redeem after 18 months, for example, and you receive only 15 months’ worth.6TreasuryDirect. I Bonds After the five-year mark there’s no penalty.
Both Series EE and Series I bonds earn interest for up to 30 years from the issue date, then stop.7TreasuryDirect. About U.S. Savings Bonds If you’re holding bonds past that final maturity, there’s no reason to wait.
Cashing an Inherited Bond
Where you go with an inherited bond depends on how it was registered. If a surviving co-owner or named beneficiary is still living, that person can cash the bond directly. The bond doesn’t become part of the deceased person’s estate. The survivor can redeem it at a bank with proper ID, or mail it to the Treasury with FS Form 1522.8TreasuryDirect. Non-Administered Estates
If no person named on the bond is living and the estate isn’t going through court administration, the bonds may qualify for a simplified process using a “voluntary representative,” available when the total value of the deceased person’s savings bonds and Treasury securities is $100,000 or less as of the date of death. The voluntary representative uses FS Form 5336 to cash the bonds or distribute them to the people entitled.8TreasuryDirect. Non-Administered Estates
For estates that go through probate, or where the bond values exceed $100,000, the executor or court-appointed representative handles the bonds and submits supporting legal documents such as certified letters of appointment.9eCFR. 31 CFR Part 353 These cases take at least two months once the Treasury has everything it needs.
If the Bond Is Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed
You can’t cash a paper bond you don’t have, but the Treasury can replace it. File FS Form 1048 with a certified signature and mail it to the address on the form. You can ask for either a replacement electronic bond in a TreasuryDirect account or a cash payment.10TreasuryDirect. Get Help for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed EE or I Savings Bond
If you don’t know the serial numbers, you can still file. Treasury records may help locate bonds issued in 1974 or later, and a version of FS Form 1048 accepts requests without serial numbers for older bonds. The Treasury Hunt online search tool was retired on September 30, 2025, and inquiries about unclaimed Treasury securities now go through your state’s unclaimed property program.11TreasuryDirect. Treasury Hunt The search-and-replacement process takes at least seven months.5TreasuryDirect. Contact Us
Tax Paperwork After You Cash
Savings bond interest is subject to federal income tax but exempt from state and local income tax, and from state estate and inheritance tax.12TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds Most owners defer reporting the interest until the year they cash the bond. You’ll get a Form 1099-INT for that year: from the bank if you redeemed there, from the Treasury if you mailed the bonds in.13Federal Reserve Financial Services. Savings Bond Redemptions Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re cashing Series EE or I bonds issued after 1989 to pay qualified higher education expenses for yourself, your spouse, or a dependent, some or all of the interest may be excludable from federal tax on Form 8815, subject to age and income requirements.14Internal Revenue Service. Form 8815 Check the current year’s instructions for the income thresholds before you count on it.