OK. I guess, my use of EZ Clear was not correct. Sorry.
I was looking at the email below that leads me to believe we will be able to scan bonds for redemption with our branch capture work (To now we have been preparing and sending them in a paper cash letter). So aside from calling it "EZ Clear", the question still remains.
"Does anyone know how long a physical bond must be retained after scanning in branch work?"
The email I am referring to is sampled below:
-------------------------------------------------------------
Date: February 15, 2012
Subject: Important Notice: Treasury to Stop Paying Fees for Redeeming Savings Bonds Beginning April 11, 2012; Image-enabled Processing Begins April 16, 2012
To: U.S. Savings Bond Agents
The U.S. Department of the Treasury plans to discontinue paying fees to U.S. Savings Bond agents for redeeming savings bonds as of April 11, 2012. 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, 2012, 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, 2012. The EZ Clear Program will be decommissioned following the transition.
Agents currently are paid 30ยข for each redeemed savings bond submitted in a separately-sorted cash letter. By eliminating these fees, Treasury expects to realize significant savings. In addition, the transition to image-enabled processing provides financial institutions with a more streamlined and cost-effective alternative for processing redeemed bonds. Financial institutions can leverage the efficiencies of electronic check processing while eliminating the manual task of mailing redeemed bonds to the Treasury Retail Securities site for clearing.
While use of the new image-enabled process for eligible savings bonds is strongly encouraged, it is not required. Paper savings bonds will only be accepted in separately sorted paper cash letters. Please visit the Image-enabled Savings Bond Processing Resource Center for more information.
We encourage you to continue redeeming savings bonds for your customers. There are currently more than 679 million paper bonds worth $180 billion dollars in the hands of the public. Your organization remains a valued partner with Treasury, and we appreciate your continued commitment to our programs.
For your convenience, we are providing a set of frequently asked questions about the fee change. If you have further questions, please contact us at (800) 553-2663.
Sincerely,
Kelly A. Bernard
Vice President
Treasury Retail Securities
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Last edited by smcanelly; 03/09/12 05:50 PM.
Previous Thread
Index