Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request, 57037-57041 [2011-23614]

Agencies

• FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 179 (Thursday, September 15, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57037-57041]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23614]


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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

SUMMARY: Under authority delegated to the Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System (Board) by the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), the Board is requesting 
comment on four surveys related to its obligations under section 920(a) 
of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA). Two surveys request 
information about the prevalence of the use of general-use prepaid 
cards in federal, state, and local government-administered payment 
programs and the interchange and cardholder fees charged with respect 
to this use. The Board is proposing to conduct these surveys to collect 
information necessary to meet its obligation under EFTA section 
920(a)(7)(D) to submit an annual report to the Congress on such 
programs and fees. One of these surveys will require information from 
issuers of government-administered, general-use prepaid cards, in 
accordance with the Board's information collection authority in section 
920(a)(3)(B) of the EFTA. The other survey, which is voluntary, will be 
directed to state governments that administer general-use prepaid 
cards.
    The Board is also requesting comment on two mandatory surveys, one 
for debit card issuers and one for payment card networks, that will 
collect information on costs, debit card usage, and interchange fees. 
These surveys will enable the Board to meet its obligation under EFTA 
section 920(a)(3) to disclose aggregate or summary information 
concerning the costs incurred and interchange fees charged or received 
by issuers or payment card networks in connection with the 
authorization, clearance or settlement of electronic debit 
transactions.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before November 14, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by FR 3063a or b 
(government-administered, general-use prepaid cards), FR 3064a (debit 
card issuers), or FR 3064b (payment card networks), by any of the 
following methods:
     Agency Web Site: https://www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments at https://www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/foia/ProposedRegs.cfm.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: regs.comments@federalreserve.gov. Include the 
docket number in the subject line of the message.
     Fax: 202/452-3819 or 202/452-3102.
     Mail: Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary, Board of Governors 
of the Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue, 
NW., Washington, DC 20551.
    Additionally, commenters should send a copy of their comments to 
the OMB Desk Officer, Shagufta Ahmed, by mail to Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive 
Office Building, Room 10235, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503 
or by fax to 202-395-6974.
    All public comments are available on the Board's Web site at https://www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/foia/ProposedRegs.cfm as submitted, 
unless modified for technical reasons. Accordingly, comments will not 
be edited to remove any identifying or contact information. Public 
comments may also be viewed electronically or in paper form in Room MP-
500 of the Board's Martin Building (20th and C Streets, NW.) between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Williams, Senior Financial 
Services Analyst (202-452-2446), Division of Reserve Bank Operations 
and Payment Systems, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 
Washington, DC 20551, for FR 3063a or b (government-administered, 
general-use prepaid cards).
    Edith Collis, Senior Financial Services Analyst (202-452-3638), 
Division of Reserve Bank Operations and Payment Systems, Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551, for FR 
3064a (debit card issuers).
    Linda Healey, Senior Financial Services Analyst (202-452-5274), 
Division of Reserve Bank Operations and Payment Systems, Board of

[[Page 57038]]

Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551, for FR 
3064b (payment card networks).
    A copy of the PRA OMB submission, including the proposed surveys, 
supporting statement, and other documentation will be placed into OMB's 
public docket files, once approved. These documents will also be made 
available on the Board's public Web site at: https://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/reportforms/review.cfm or may be 
requested from the agency clearance officer, whose name appears below.
    Cynthia Ayouch, Federal Reserve Board Clearance Officer (202-452-
3829), Division of Research and Statistics, Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551. Telecommunications Device 
for the Deaf (TDD) users may contact (202-263-4869), Board of Governors 
of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On June 15, 1984, the OMB delegated to the Board its approval 
authority under the PRA, pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.16, to approve of and 
assign OMB control numbers to collection of information requests and 
requirements conducted or sponsored by the Board under conditions set 
forth in 5 CFR Part 1320 Appendix A.1. Board-approved collections of 
information are incorporated into the official OMB inventory of 
currently approved collections of information. Copies of the PRA 
submission, supporting statements and approved collection of 
information instruments are placed into OMB's public docket files. The 
Board may not conduct or sponsor, and a respondent is not required to 
respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, 
or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB control number.

Request for Comment on Information Collection Proposals

    The following information collections, which are being handled 
under OMB delegated authority, have received initial Board approval and 
are hereby published for comment. After the comment deadline, the 
proposed information collections, along with an analysis of comments 
and recommendations received, will be submitted to the Board for final 
approval under this delegated authority. The Board requests comment on 
all aspects of the proposed surveys, as discussed further below, 
including the following:
    a. Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the Board's functions, including whether the 
information has practical utility;
    b. The accuracy of the Board's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed information collection, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    c. Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    d. Ways to minimize the burden of information collection on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.

Proposal To Approve Under OMB Delegated Authority the Implementation of 
the Following Information Collections

    1. Report title: Government-administered, General-use Prepaid Card 
Surveys.\1\
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    \1\ The proposed issuer and state government surveys, supporting 
statement, and other documentation are available on the Board's 
public Web site at: https://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/reportforms/review.cfm.
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    Agency form number: FR 3063a and FR 3063b.
    OMB control number: 7100- to be assigned.
    Frequency: Annual.
    Reporters: Issuers of government-administered, general-use prepaid 
cards (FR 3063a) and state governments that administer general-use 
prepaid cards (FR 3063b).
    Estimated annual reporting hours: FR 3063a: 1,000 hours; FR 3063b: 
900 hours.
    Estimated average hours per response: FR 3063a: 50 hours; FR 3063b: 
15 hours.
    Number of respondents: FR 3063a: 20; FR 3063b: 60.
    General description of report: These information collections are 
authorized by section 920(a) of the EFTA, which was added by section 
1075(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection 
Act (Dodd-Frank Act). 15 U.S.C. 1693o-2. EFTA Section 920(a) requires 
the Board to submit an annual report to the Congress on the prevalence 
of the use of general-use prepaid cards in federal, state, or local 
government-administered payment programs and the interchange 
transaction fees and card-holder fees charged with respect to the use 
of such general-use prepaid cards. 15 U.S.C. 1693o-2(a)(7)(D). EFTA 
Section 920(a) also provides the Board with authority to require 
issuers to provide information to enable the Board to carry out the 
provisions of EFTA Section 920(a). 15 U.S.C. 1693o-2(a)(3)(B).
    The obligation of issuers to respond to the issuer survey (FR 
3063a) is mandatory. Some of the data collected by FR 3063a may be kept 
confidential under exemption (b)(4) of the Freedom of Information Act 
(FOIA), which exempts from disclosure ``trade secrets and commercial or 
financial information obtained from a person and privileged or 
confidential.'' 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4). Information collected under FR 
3063a can be kept confidential under exemption (b)(4) if the release of 
data would cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the 
issuer.
    The obligation of state governments to respond to the government 
survey (FR 3063b) is voluntary. The Board anticipates that all of the 
information collected by FR 3063b would be publicly available 
information and would not be given confidential treatment.
    The Board specifically requests comment on the following:
    a. What information collected by the issuer survey (FR 3063a) would 
consist of trade secrets or commercial or financial information;
    b. Whether information collected by the government survey (FR 
3063b) is publicly available information; and
    c. Whether there are issuers of government-administered, general-
use prepaid cards that are not depository institutions, and, if so, 
should the depository institution holding the insured deposits 
underlying the cards be required to report on behalf of those issuers.
    Abstract: Section 920 of the EFTA provides that the Board shall 
provide annually a report to the Congress regarding the prevalence of 
the use of general-use prepaid cards in federal, state, and local 
government-administered payment programs, and the interchange and 
cardholder fees charged with respect to this use. Section 920(a) also 
provides the Board with authority to require card issuers to respond to 
information requests as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of 
the section.
    On March 24, 2011, the Board distributed two surveys to industry 
participants (a depository institution survey and a state government 
survey) designed to assist the Board in meeting the reporting 
requirements in section 920(a) related to the prevalence of the use of 
general-use prepaid cards in federal, state, or local government-
administered payment programs and

[[Page 57039]]

associated fees.\2\ In response to comments and survey submissions from 
issuers and governments, the Board developed the FR 3063a and 3063b 
surveys, as described below, which would replace the surveys 
distributed in March 2011.
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    \2\ The 2011 depository institution and state government surveys 
were conducted via the Ad Hoc Payment System Surveys (FR 3054a; OMB 
No. 7100-0332).
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    Current Actions: The Board proposes to implement the issuer survey 
(FR 3063a) and the government survey (FR 3063b). Responding to the 
issuer survey (FR 3063a) would be required for approximately 20 
depository institutions that issue general-use prepaid cards for 
federal, state, or local government-administered payment programs. The 
survey would request information on cards associated with accounts 
domiciled in the United States, District of Columbia, and U.S. 
territories.\3\
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    \3\ U.S. territories include American Samoa, Federal States of 
Micronesia, Guam, Midway Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto 
Rico, Republic of Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and U.S. 
Virgin Islands.
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    In general, the issuer survey (FR 3063a) would collect information 
separately for each government-administered program for which the 
depository institution is the issuer of general-use prepaid cards as 
well as in the aggregate for all programs. The issuer survey would 
collect information on card programs using two types of authentication 
mechanisms: dual-message transactions (those generally requiring a 
signature) and single-message transactions (those generally requiring 
the input of a personal identification number (PIN)).\4\ The first 
reporting period would cover the calendar year 2011, collected as of 
December 31, 2011.
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    \4\ In dual-message transactions, authorization information is 
carried in one message and clearing information is carried in a 
separate message. In single-message transactions, authorization and 
clearing information is carried in one message. General-use prepaid 
cards may use either method (although dual-message transactions are 
more common) and may be reloadable or non-reloadable.
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    The Board specifically requests comment on the following:
    a. The best terms to use in identifying types of authentication 
mechanisms (single-message and dual-message versus PIN and signature) 
given that not all dual-message transactions require a signature and 
not all single-message transactions require a PIN.
    The issuer survey would comprise 10 sections:
    I. Respondent Information: Respondents would provide the name of 
the card issuer covered in the response; and the contact person(s) 
name, survey section for which they are responsible, e-mail, and phone 
number.
    II. Card program information: Respondents would report summary 
information on card programs covered in the response, whether the 
response covers federal, state, or local programs, jurisdiction,\5\ 
sponsoring government agency(ies), a description of payment type, 
recipients receiving payments on prepaid cards, and recipients 
receiving payments by all payment methods.
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    \5\ Jurisdiction refers to the geographic area in which the 
general-use prepaid card program is administered.
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    The Board specifically requests comment on the following:
    a. The ability of issuers to provide the total number of recipients 
receiving payments, regardless of payment method.
    III. Government-Administered Prepaid Cards: Respondents would 
report summary information on the number of cards outstanding, and the 
allocation of cards outstanding between cards that can be used on both 
dual-message (signature) and single-message (PIN) networks.
    IV. Funding: Respondents would report the value of funds loaded 
into prepaid card accounts, funds outstanding on prepaid card accounts, 
and all funds disbursed by all payment methods.
    The Board specifically requests comment on the following:
    a. The ability of issuers to provide the total value of all funds 
disbursed, regardless of payment method.
    b. Whether any funding patterns during the month may change 
significantly an issuer's response depending on the as-of date 
requested. Note--The draft survey requests outstanding funds at the end 
of the month.
    V. ATM Transactions: Respondents would report summary information 
on the number of cards outstanding at year-end that can be used to make 
ATM cash withdrawals, the volume and value of ATM cash withdrawals, and 
the ATM fees charged for withdrawals by ATM operators at nonproprietary 
ATMs.
    VI. Purchase Transactions: Respondents would report summary 
information on the volume and value of settled purchase transactions 
and the volume and value of settled purchase transactions for dual-
message (signature) transactions and single-message (PIN) transactions.
    VII. Interchange Fees: Respondents would report interchange fee 
revenues received on settled purchase transactions and the allocation 
of the interchange fee revenues received on settled purchase 
transactions \6\ for dual-message (signature) transactions and single-
message (PIN) transactions.
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    \6\ A settled purchase transaction refers to a debit card 
transaction that has been settled, excluding transactions that are 
pre-authorizations, denials, adjustments, or returns.
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    VIII. Fees Paid by Issuers: Respondents would report the fees paid 
on nonproprietary ATM cash withdrawals and the fees paid on over-the-
counter cash withdrawals at other banks' teller stations.
    The Board specifically requests comment on the following:
    a. Whether fees paid for over-the-counter at-bank (teller) cash 
withdrawals should be included in the survey.
    IX. Revenues From Cardholder Fees: Respondents would provide total 
revenues received on all fees charged to cardholders and the allocation 
of all fees charged to cardholders between routine purchase transaction 
fees, monthly fees, balance inquiry fees, ATM fees, over-the-counter 
at-bank (teller) fees, account servicing fees, penalty fees, and all 
other fees.
    X. Fees Assessed to Cardholders: Respondents would provide summary 
information on fees assessed to cardholders by the issuer, including 
routine purchase transaction fees, monthly fees, balance inquiry fees, 
ATM fees charged to cardholders, over-the-counter at-bank (teller) 
fees, account servicing fees, penalty fees, and all other fees.
    Responding to the government survey (FR 3063b) would be voluntary 
for approximately 60 government entities, including the states, the 
District of Columbia, and U.S. territories (collectively ``state 
governments''). The survey would collect information about the 
prevalence of use of general-use prepaid cards in federal, state, and 
local government-administered payment programs.\7\ The first reporting 
period would cover the calendar year 2011, collected as of December 31, 
2011.
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    \7\ See footnote 3.
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    The government survey would comprise four sections:
    I. Respondent Information: Respondents would identify the 
government agency (including federal, state or other jurisdiction) for 
which they are responding; and provide the contact person(s) name, 
survey section for which they are responsible, e-mail, and phone 
number.
    II. Program information: Respondents would report summary 
information on card programs covered in the response, whether the 
response covers a federal, state, or local program, sponsoring

[[Page 57040]]

government agency(ies), card-issuer(s), a description of payment type, 
the number of recipients receiving payments on prepaid cards, and the 
number of recipients receiving payments by all payment methods.
    III. Cards: Respondents would report the number of cards 
outstanding.
    IV. Funding: Respondents would report the value of funds loaded 
into prepaid card accounts and the value of all funds paid by all 
payment methods.
    The issuer survey (FR 3063a) and the government survey (FR 3063b) 
would be made available online by mid-February 2012 and would request 
that the surveys be completed and returned to the Board within 30 
calendar days.
    The Board specifically requests comment on the following:
    a. Whether 30 calendar days allows sufficient time for respondents 
to complete the proposed surveys.
    2. Report title: Interchange Transaction Fees Surveys.\8\
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    \8\ The proposed debit card issuer and payment card network 
surveys, supporting statement, and other documentation are available 
on the Board's public Web site at: https://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/reportforms/review.cfm.
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    Agency form number: FR 3064a and FR 3064b.
    OMB control number: 7100--to be assigned.
    Frequency: FR 3064a--Biennial; FR 3064b--Annual.
    Reporters: Issuers of debit cards (FR 3064a) and payment card 
networks (FR 3064b).
    Estimated annual reporting hours: FR 3064a: 46,400 hours; FR 3064b: 
425 hours.
    Estimated average hours per response: FR 3064a: 80 hours; FR 3064b: 
25 hours.
    Number of respondents: FR 3064a: 580; FR 3064b: 17.
    General description of report: These information collections are 
authorized by section 920(a) of the EFTA, which was added by section 
1075(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act. 15 U.S.C. 1693o-2. This section requires 
the Board to (on a biennial basis) disclose aggregate or summary 
information concerning the costs incurred and interchange transactions 
fees charged or received, by issuers or payment card networks in 
connection with the authorization, clearance, or settlement of 
electronic debit transaction as the Board considers appropriate and in 
the public interest. 15 U.S.C. 1693o-2(a)(3)(B). It also provides the 
Board with authority to require issuers (or agents of issuers) and 
payment card networks to provide information to enable the Board to 
carry out the provisions of the section.
    The obligation to respond to these surveys is mandatory. In 
accordance with the statutory requirement, the Board will release 
aggregate or summary information from the survey responses. Some of the 
data collected by the surveys may be kept confidential under exemption 
(b)(4) of FOIA, which exempts from disclosure ``trade secrets and 
commercial or financial information obtained from a person and 
privileged or confidential.'' 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4). Information collected 
under the surveys can be kept confidential under exemption (b)(4) if 
the release of data would cause substantial harm to the competitive 
position of the respondent.
    Abstract: Section 920(a)(3) of the EFTA provides that the Board 
shall at least on a biennial basis disclose aggregate or summary 
information concerning the costs incurred, and interchange transaction 
fees charged or received, by issuers or payment card networks in 
connection with debit card transactions. 15 U.S.C. 1693o-2(a)(3)(B). 
When the Board adopted Regulation II setting debit card interchange fee 
standards, the Board's rulemaking stated that information would be 
gathered from payment card networks annually regarding interchange fees 
that are received by covered and exempt issuers.\9\
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    \9\ Regulation II--Debit Card Interchange Fees and Routing (76 
FR 43394 (July 20, 2011)).
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    On September 13, 2010, the Board distributed three surveys to 
industry participants (a card issuer survey, a payment card network 
survey, and a merchant acquirer/processor survey) designed to gather 
information to assist the Board in developing Regulation II. Industry 
participants, including payment card networks, trade groups, and 
individual firms from both the banking industry and merchant community, 
commented on preliminary versions of the 2010 issuer and network 
surveys, through both written submissions and a series of drop-in 
calls. In response to the comments, the two surveys were modified, as 
appropriate.\10\ The implementation of the FR 3064a and 3064b, as 
described below, would replace the 2010 surveys.
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    \10\ The 2010 issuer and network surveys were conducted under 
the emergency clearance provision of the OMB's regulation, 
Interchange Transaction Fees Survey (FR 3062; OMB No. 7100-0329).
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    Current Actions: The Board proposes to implement the debit card 
issuer survey (FR 3064a) and the payment card network survey (FR 
3064b). The debit card issuer survey would be required for each debit 
card issuer that, together with its affiliates, has assets of $10 
billion or more. The survey would request information on accounts and 
cards associated with accounts domiciled in the United States, the 
District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.\11\
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    \11\ See footnote 3.
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    The Board specifically requests comment on the following:
    a. The feasibility of requiring each chartered entity that issues 
debit cards to complete a separate survey rather than requiring a 
holding company to complete one survey for all its chartered entities, 
as was done in the 2010 card issuer survey (12 CFR 235.8(b)).
    In general, the debit card issuer survey (FR 3064a) would collect 
information on card programs that use two types of authentication 
mechanisms: Dual-message transactions (those generally requiring a 
signature) and single-message transactions (those generally requiring 
the input of a personal identification number (PIN)). Both programs 
include general-use prepaid card transactions.\12\ The first reporting 
period would cover the calendar year 2011, collected as of December 31, 
2011. If certain costs for a card program are shared with other card 
programs, respondents would be asked to allocate costs to a particular 
card program based on transaction volume.
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    \12\ In the 2010 debit card issuer survey, general-use prepaid 
cards were treated separately as their own program and issuers 
reported much higher costs for the authorization, clearance, and 
settlement of prepaid card transactions than for other debit card 
transactions. However, the authorization, clearance, and settlement 
process for prepaid card transactions is essentially the same as it 
is for other debit card transactions. The higher costs reported 
under the 2010 survey may have resulted from the costs of prepaid 
account maintenance, costs for loading funds onto the cards, and 
costs for other activities that are not considered to be tied to the 
authorization, clearance, and settlement of prepaid card 
transactions.
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    The Board specifically requests comment on the following:
    a. The best terms to use in identifying types of processing 
(single-message and dual-message versus PIN and signature) given that 
not all dual-message transactions require a signature and not all 
single-message transactions require a PIN.
    b. Whether issuers should report general-use prepaid card data 
combined with other transaction data related to single- or dual-message 
systems (and if so, whether they would be able to do so) or should 
report general-use prepaid card activity separately.
    The debit card issuer survey would comprise four sections:
    I. Respondent Information: Respondents would provide the name of 
the debit card issuer covered in the response and the contact person(s) 
name, section of the survey for which they are responsible, e-mail, and 
phone

[[Page 57041]]

number. Respondents also would report whether general-use prepaid cards 
are issued.
    II. All Debit Card Transactions (including general-use prepaid card 
transactions): Respondents would report summary information for debit 
card (including general-use prepaid card) transaction volume and value; 
chargebacks to acquirers; costs of authorization, clearance, and 
settlement; payments and incentives paid by networks to issuers; costs 
for fraud prevention and data security; interchange fee revenue; 
fraudulent transactions; and fraud losses.
    The Board specifically requests comment on the following:
    a. Whether the guidance provided in the proposed survey is 
sufficient for issuers to report authorization, clearing, and 
settlement costs;
    b. The usefulness of including a checklist of fraud prevention 
activities and, if so, which fraud prevention activities should be 
included in the checklist for the 2012 survey. If a checklist is 
provided in the survey, are the activities proposed in the draft survey 
(transaction monitoring, merchant blocking, data security, and PIN 
customization) the right categories or are other categories more 
meaningful? If a checklist is provided in the survey, the listed 
activities could be updated over time based on ``other'' activities 
reported.
    c. The issuers' ability to allocate payments and incentives as 
specified and whether other major categories of payments and incentives 
should be included.
    d. The issuers' ability to report the subset of customer service 
costs associated with customer inquiries regarding particular debit 
card transactions (as opposed to customer inquiries regarding the 
account, the debit card more generally, or credit cards/ATM cards).
    III. All Single-Message (PIN) Debit Card Transactions (including 
general-use prepaid card transactions): Respondents would submit data 
for the same set of questions asked in Section II above, but 
specifically about single-message debit card programs, including 
general-use prepaid cards.
    IV. All Dual-Message (Signature) Debit Card Transactions (including 
general-use prepaid card transactions): Respondents would submit data 
for the same set of questions asked in Section II above, but 
specifically about dual-message debit card programs, including general-
use prepaid cards.
    The payment card network survey (FR 3064b) would require payment 
card networks to submit information about debit card (including 
general-use prepaid card) transaction volume and value; interchange 
fees; other network fees; and incentives and discounts paid to 
acquirers, merchants, and issuers.\13\ The first reporting period would 
cover the calendar year 2011, collected as of December 31, 2011.
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    \13\ See 12 CFR 235.8.
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    The network survey would comprise two sections: \14\
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    \14\ Entities that have both single-message and dual-message 
networks will be asked to report data for each program separately.
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    I. Respondent Information: Respondents would identify the network 
covered in the response and provide the contact person(s) name, section 
of the survey for which they are responsible, e-mail, and phone number. 
Respondents also would report whether the payment card network is a 
single-message (PIN) or dual-message (signature) network, whether the 
payment card network offers a tiered interchange fee rate schedule that 
differentiates between exempt issuers and non-exempt issuers, and the 
number of merchant locations that accept debit cards whose transactions 
can be processed by the payment card network.
    II. Debit Card Transactions (including general-use prepaid card 
transactions): Respondents would report the volume and value of settled 
purchase transactions; as well as information related to card-present 
versus card-not-present transactions; general-use prepaid card versus 
non-general-use prepaid card transactions; general-use prepaid card 
transactions exempt from the interchange fee standards in Regulation II 
versus general-use prepaid card transactions that are not exempt; 
transactions processed for small issuers that are exempt from the 
interchange fee standards versus those processed for non-exempt 
issuers; pre- and post-effective date transactions processed for exempt 
and non-exempt debit card issuers; chargebacks and returns to 
merchants; the value of interchange fees; the value of network fees; 
and payments and incentives paid by networks to acquirers, merchants, 
and issuers.
    The Board specifically requests comment on the following:
    a. The payment card networks' ability to identify separately 
general-use prepaid card transactions from other debit card 
transactions.
    b. Whether the networks can provide data for exempt and non-exempt 
issuers that compares information for three time periods: January 1 to 
June 30, 2011 (during which all transactions would be considered 
exempt); July 1 to September 30, 2011 (during which all transactions 
could be considered exempt, but some networks may begin to distinguish 
between exempt and non-exempt issuers, if such networks are offering a 
tiered interchange fee schedule); and October 1, 2011 to December 31, 
2011 (during which all networks that provide a tiered interchange fee 
schedule would distinguish between exempt and non-exempt issuers).
    The Board would make the payment card network survey available 
online by mid-January 2012 and would request that the survey be 
completed and submitted to the Board within 30 calendar days. The debit 
card issuer survey would be made available by mid-February 2012 and 
would request that the survey be completed and submitted to the Board 
within 60 calendar days.\15\
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    \15\ In subsequent years, the Board anticipates that both the 
debit card issuer and payment card network surveys would be made 
available by mid-January.


    By order of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System, September 12, 2011.
Jennifer J. Johnson,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2011-23614 Filed 9-14-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P