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How to Link Your eTrade Savings Account to Treasury Direct: A Simple Solution for a Common Problem

If you are interested in purchasing Treasury Bills, Notes, or Bonds you might want to consider using Treasury Direct, a website that allows you to buy and sell securities directly from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. However, you might encounter some difficulties when linking your Bank Account to your Treasury Direct account, as I did recently. In this blog post, I will share my experience and how I solved the problem.


I have a Morgan Stanley Private Savings Account (eTrade) that I use for my Investments. I wanted to link it to my Treasury Direct account so that I could transfer funds easily and quickly. However, when I tried to add my bank account information on the Treasury Direct website, it did not recognize either the Bank or my Account Number. I was puzzled and frustrated, as I had entered everything correctly using, "Copy and Paste".


I decided to call eTrade Customer Service and explain the situation. They were very helpful and courteous, and they suggested that the problem might be caused by a hyphen in my account number. Apparently, some Banks use hyphens in their Account Numbers, while others do not. Treasury Direct might not accept hyphens in the Account Numbers, and that could be why it was rejecting my information.


I followed their advice and removed the hyphen from my account number. Then I tried to add my bank account again on the Treasury Direct website. To my relief, it worked! Without the hyphen, there were no issues at all. I was able to link my Bank Account and start purchasing Treasury Bills.


I am very happy with this outcome, as I value the access to Treasury Securities that Treasury Direct provides. Especially living in NJ and having high State Income Tax rates, I appreciate the opportunity to invest in tax-exempt securities that offer competitive returns and low risk. I hope this blog post helps anyone who might have a similar problem with linking their bank accounts to Treasury Direct.


I still have the failed entry on Treasury Direct. I will have to call later and have that removed.

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