Dollar Bank Sells U.S. Savings Bonds Through Internet Home Banking

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 5, 1997

Today, Pittsburgh based Dollar Bank becomes the first bank to offer the sale of savings bonds through their Internet home banking service, called “NetBanking”. Now Dollar Bank's NetBanking customers can buy Series EE savings bonds directly over the Internet using their home computers.

“We want to make it easier for customers to purchase U.S. savings bonds, and it seemed natural to sell them through home banking channels,” said Richard L. Gregg, Commissioner of the Public Debt. “Given their expertise in providing a full line of banking products over the Internet,” Gregg continued, “Dollar Bank was a logical partner for us in this venture.”

The NetBanking customer completes a simple savings bonds order form on the computer and tells the bank which account to charge. The issuing agent, Dollar Bank, then charges the customer's account and sends the order electronically to the savings bonds processing center at the Federal Reserve Bank in Pittsburgh. In about a week, the bond is mailed to the customer.

Dollar Bank, the first large financial institution to offer bonds on-line, is a $2.5 billion Federal Savings Bank headquartered in Pittsburgh with branch offices throughout southwestern Pennsylvania and the Cleveland metropolitan area of northeastern Ohio. Introduced in September, Dollar Bank's NetBanking site can be found at: www.dollarbank.com.

The Bureau of Public Debt, responsible for the savings bonds program, continues to work with other financial institutions and financial software companies to provide on-line purchase options for savings bonds. The wide variety of approaches to home banking by the industry precludes the development of a single, standard software package.

“We were glad to participate,” said Joseph B. Smith, Dollar Bank's Senior Vice President of Marketing, “when the Bureau of the Public Debt asked us to add savings bonds to our NetBanking line-up. We're always looking to enhance the products and services we offer over the Web, and selling savings bonds is a great addition.”