Justification for Mail-in Ordre Form Survey

November 15, 2010

Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD) 2010 Customer Satisfaction Survey

Mail-in Order for Savings Bonds

A. Brief Explanation

The Bureau of the Public Debt plays an integral role in financing the operating expenses of the federal government. We sell U.S. Treasury securities to the public to help fund our country's expenses and to pay off maturing debt. In October 2010, the Bureau of the Public Debt launched a pilot project giving customers the opportunity to buy paper savings bonds by completing an on-line form available on TreasuryDirect.gov, printing a summary of the form, and mailing the printout and a payment to a Treasury Retail Securities (TRS) site.

To provide high quality and responsive customer service and to meet our obligations under Executive Order 12862 we need to monitor customer satisfaction and get valuable feedback about features of the pilot project. The survey results will allow BPD and the TRS sites to measure the extent to which objectives are achieved and recognize areas of improvement.

The survey will be conducted online through a pop-up browser window triggered when the customer has completed the application. The survey is optional and is not required to complete the transaction.

B. Estimated Burden Hours

The estimated burden for this collection of information from respondents is 5 minutes. This amount of time includes reading the initial request and survey instructions as well as clicking on the appropriate response box and the time to add comments. The survey will only be available for one month during the pilot where the estimated number of respondents is 200. The estimated burden total for the survey is 16.7 hours.

C. Survey Questions

The following questions represent the type of information that will be contained in the survey. The final survey may be worded differently.

Thank you for purchasing a U.S. Savings Bond using our fillable online form. We’re interested in your feedback on the purchase experience, and we invite you to complete this short survey to help us improve the process.

1. How did you learn about this purchase option? (Choose all that apply.)

My financial institution

Friend or acquaintance

Browsing the TreasuryDirect_® website (www.treasurydirect.gov)

Other (Please specify)

2. On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being very easy and 5 very difficult, how would you rate the ease of completing the order form?

1 2 3 4 5

3. On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being very clear and 5 very unclear, how would you rate the clarity of the order form instructions?

1 2 3 4 5

4. Did you need any assistance completing the order form? Yes No

If so, who assisted you? Friend/family Bank employee Other

5. Did you receive an error message at any point that instructed you to correct information you provided on the order form? Yes No

If yes, was the message helpful? Yes No

If yes, please briefly describe what the message said.

6. Did you experience any problems accessing, printing, or completing the order form? Yes No

If yes, briefly describe the problem.

7. Did you buy the U. S. Savings Bond(s) as… (Choose all that apply.)

Gifts Savings or investment Other (Please specify)

8. Would you purchase a U.S. Savings Bond using this method again? Yes No

9. Do you have any suggestions for improving the order form and/or purchase process?

10. Please tell us which categories pertain to you…

Male Female

Age 18-25 26-35 36-54 Over 55

11. What statement below best describes your habits for purchasing U.S. Savings Bonds?

I have never purchased a U.S. Savings Bond before.

I have purchased U.S. Savings Bonds before, but not on a regular basis.

I purchase U.S. Savings Bonds on a regular basis (i.e., monthly)

Thank you for taking the time to provide this valuable feedback. We appreciate your support of the U.S. Savings Bond program.