Series I savings bonds have lost their luster — at least for now.

The rate on I bonds, designed to protect investors from inflation, plunged to a four-year low of 3.11% as of Friday. That’s down from a peak of 9.62% in 2022, when pandemic-driven inflation made the securities a hot place to snag a healthy, low-risk return.

Demand was so strong that a fintech even tried to cash in by building an easier way to buy the bonds, which are purchased through the notoriously wonky Treasury Direct website. The rate on I bonds, which resets every six months, started sliding  as Federal Reserve rate hike rates to tamed inflation. It was 4.28% in May.

Investors have redeemed $9.4 billion of I bonds so far this year compared to $6.4 billion of withdrawals last year, according to data from the Treasury Department. That’s a sharp turnaround from early 2023 when I bond sales reached $4.2 billion in a single month.

The I bond yield is comprised of two parts:  a variable rate that rises and falls with the consumer price index and a fixed rate set by the Treasury Department. It changes on the first business days of May and November. 

Like I bonds, high-yield savings accounts and certificates of deposit were popular in recent years as higher rates buoyed savers. The Fed’s interest rate cut in September quickly made products like these less attractive as investors readied themselves for further reductions and US stocks hit new all-time highs.

Still, investors may have discarded savings-focused products too soon. A stubbornly strong US economy and tight presidential election have muddied the interest-rate picture, sending Treasury 10-year yields higher than they were in the run-up to the cut. All eyes are on next week’s Fed meeting, with a weak job reports Friday reigniting bets that rates will be reduced again.

Newly purchased I bonds now sport yields lower than high-yield savings accounts like those on offer at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s consumer bank, Marcus, which currently advertises a 4.1% rate.

Same-day transfers make these products much more liquid than I bonds, which must be held for at least one year after purchase. Withdrawing cash within five years of purchase results in forfeiting three months of interest. There is also a $10,000 annual limit on buying I bonds.

On the other hand, the rate on an I bond is locked in for six months after purchase, whereas the rate on a high-yield savings account can change at any point. Those interested in longer-term fixed yields can look to certificates of deposit, which still yield more than 4%. 

This article was provided by Bloomberg News.