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Image-enabled Savings Bond Processing Quick Reference Guide

Table of Contents

Eligible Savings Bonds

Mixed or Separately Sorted Image Cash Letter (ICL)

  • Series E (Half-Sheet Paper and Card Only – No Full-Sheet)
  • Series EE
  • Series I
  • Savings Notes

Separately Sorted Paper Cash Letter

  • Series E (Half-Sheet Paper and Card Only – No Full-Sheet)
  • Series EE
  • Series I
  • Savings Notes

Separately Sorted Full-Sheet Paper Cash Letter

  • Series A (Full-Sheet Paper)
  • Series B (Full-Sheet Paper)
  • Series C (Full-Sheet Paper)
  • Series D (Full-Sheet Paper)
  • Series E (Full-Sheet Paper)

Facsimile Paper Cash Letter

  • Facsimile of Series A
  • Facsimile of Series B
  • Facsimile of Series C
  • Facsimile of Series D
  • Facsimile of Series E
  • Facsimile of Series EE
  • Facsimile of Series I
  • Facsimile of Savings Notes

Note: Paper savings bonds will no longer be accepted in mixed paper cash letters.

Deposit Locations

Mixed ICL (Worktype “C”)

All Federal Reserve iCPCS locations, consistent with current deposit locations

Separately Sorted ICL (Worktype “J”)

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta only
Destination RT 0610-0014-6

All Paper and Facsimile Savings Bonds

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Check Department – Savings Bond Processing
1000 Peachtree Street NE
Atlanta, GA 30309-4470

Deposit Deadlines

Mixed and Separately Sorted ICLs

9:00 PM ET; 1:00 AM ET; 5:00 AM ET; and noon ET

Paper Savings Bonds and Facsimile Savings Bonds

7:00 PM ET at the Atlanta Office

Deposit Requirements Mixed or Separately Sorted ICL Original Paper Bonds

Mixed and Separately Sorted ICL

  • Depositing institution must have completed a Check 21 Agreement on file or the file will be rejected.
    • Depositing institutions that plan to send a separately sorted ICL must complete a new Check 21 agreement. As an alternative, the Reserve Banks will accept an email notification by an authorized representative of the depositing institution. The agreement or notification must be sent to the Customer Contact Center at ccc.bankservices@kc.frb.org prior to initiating the service.
    • No new agreement is needed for savings bonds included in a mixed ICL.
  • Files must conform to ANSI X9.37 and Universal Companion Document requirements. Refer to the Check 21-enabled Products Technical Information page.
  • Savings bonds with a preprinted MICR line deposited in ICLs must contain the full MICR line in the designated fields of the Type 25 item detail record.
  • For savings bonds without a preprinted MICR line, only the routing number for savings bonds and the redemption amount in the designated fields of the Type 25 item detail record will be required.
  • The routing number for all savings bonds, regardless of issue date, series, or denomination is 0000-9000-7.
  • Savings bonds do not need a physical check indorsement or encoding. An electronic indorsement in the Type 26 or Type 28 records is required, consistent with check image deposit guidelines.
  • Paying agents must continue to apply the paying agent stamp on the front of the savings bond and complete the owner and paying agent information on the back of the bond.

Paper Savings Bonds

  • Depositing institution must be eligible for paper check deposits. Contact your account executive or FedACH® and Check Services Customer Support to begin the process of signing up.
  • Cash letter forms must be completed and include the depositor routing number, work type, cash letter total, the item count, and the date along with a detailed listing of the items included in the cash letter.
  • Items must be encoded or stripped with the routing number for savings bonds and the redemption amount in the appropriate fields of the MICR line.

Deposit Requirements Facsimile Savings Bonds (To be used ONLY if the original bond is lost or destroyed)

Facsimile Savings Bonds

If no image of the bond is available:

If an image of the bond is available:

  • Complete the Indemnification Statement (form 700A) (Off-site)
  • Prepare required documentation: On the front side on a single 8 ½” by 11” sheet of paper, copy the indemnification statement followed by images of the front and back of the bond
  • Complete a Facsimile Cash Letter Deposit Form
    Submit the Facsimile Cash Letter Deposit form as well as all required documentation to:
    Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
    Attn: Check Department – Savings Bond Processing
    1000 Peachtree Street NE
    Atlanta, GA 30309-4470

Availability and Posting Times

Separately Sorted Savings Bond ICLs

  • Immediate availability at all ICL deadlines
  • 8:30 AM ET posting time for separately sorted Savings Bond ICLs received at the 9:00 PM ET, 1:00 AM ET, and 5:00 AM ET ICL deadlines
  • 5:00 PM ET for separately sorted Savings Bond ICLs received at the noon ET ICL deadline

Savings Bonds in Mixed ICLs

  • Immediate availability at all ICL deadlines
  • Posting times are the same as the posting times for commercial check deposits

Separately Sorted Paper and Facsimile Savings Bonds

  • Immediate availability at the 7:00 PM ET paper deposit deadline
  • One-day deferred availability after 7:00 PM ET paper deposit deadline
  • 8:30 AM ET posting time for separately sorted paper savings bonds and facsimile savings bonds received by the 7:00 PM ET deposit deadline

Item Fees

Mixed ICLs

Savings bonds in a mixed cash letter will be assessed the Tier 1 electronic fee at the appropriate deadline. This pricing is consistent with the pricing for Treasury items and Postal Money Orders included in mixed ICLs.

Separately Sorted ICL

No charge

Separately Sorted Paper Bonds

No charge

Separately Sorted Full Sheet Paper Bonds

No charge

Separately Sorted Facsimile Savings Bonds

No charge

Pricing and Quality Errors

The following adjustment investigation types (I-Types) will be used when image-enabled savings bond processing is available. All I-Types and standard processing requirements are consistent with check image deposits except as noted.

Mixed or Separately Sorted ICLs

  • Non-Conforming Item (NCI)
  • Pricing Error Adjustment (PEA)
  • Paid Adjustment (PAID)
  • Original or Sufficient Copy Request (OSCR)
  • Entry in Error Adjustment (ERR)

Paper or Facsimile Savings Bonds

  • Non-Conforming Item (NCI)
  • Pricing Error Adjustment (PEA)
  • Paid Adjustment (PAID)
  • Entry in Error Adjustment (ERR)

Accounting Changes

Mixed ICLs

Credit for savings bonds included in mixed ICLs will be included with the credits for all other items in the cash letter. Credits will be reflected on the Statement of Account from the receiving Federal Reserve Bank.

Separately Sorted ICLs, Paper and Facsimile Savings Bonds

Credits for separately sorted ICLs, as well as paper and facsimile savings bonds, will originate from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (0610-0014-6).

Retention Requirements

Paying agents must retain paper savings bonds for at least 30 calendar days following the date that the image cash letter (ICL) of the paid savings bond was submitted to the Federal Reserve Bank.

Paper savings bonds must be stored in a secured location with physical, procedural, and systemic controls in place to ensure that access to the securities is restricted to authorized personnel and that the securities are protected from loss, theft, destruction, and unauthorized or inadvertent viewing.

At the end of the retention period, paper savings bonds must be destroyed by burning, mulching, pulverizing, or shredding beyond recognition and reconstruction.

Detailed information on the statutes and regulations governing the U.S. Savings Bond Program is provided in the Code of Federal Regulations Department Circulars (Off-site).

Exceptions and Redeposits

Savings bonds can be deposited in forward cash letters only. No Return cash letter types will be supported.

Substitute checks are not allowed for savings bond processing. In situations where a savings bond cannot be deposited as an image, institutions may redeposit the paper savings bond or may use the facsimile bond process when the physical bond is not available.

Testing

Since savings bond processing and deposit requirements will be consistent with image check deposits, testing is at the sole discretion of each institution. Test files can be sent to the Federal Reserve’s pre-Production (TEST) environment at any time. The files must be designated as test files with a “T” in the file header record. If savings bonds are included in the file (designated by 0000-9000-7 as the RT in the Type 25 item detail record), the files will be validated and the standard Check 21 file acknowledgement will be generated.

To determine the need for testing or other necessary changes to prepare for image-based savings bond processing, we encourage you to consult with your image vendor or processor.

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