Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request, 56368-56373 [2014-22357]

Agencies

• FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 182 (Friday, September 19, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56368-56373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-22357]


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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

SUMMARY: On June 15, 1984, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
delegated to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
(Board) its approval authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act (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 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 Paperwork Reduction Act 
Submission, supporting statements and approved collection of 
information instruments are placed into OMB's public docket files. The 
Federal Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, and the 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.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before November 18, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by FR 3063a or b 
(government-administered, general-use prepaid cards); by any of the 
following methods:
     Agency Web site: https://www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments at https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: regs.comments@federalreserve.gov. Include OMB 
number in the subject line of the message.
     FAX: (202) 452-3819 or (202) 452-3102.
     Mail: Robert deV. Frierson, Secretary, Board of Governors 
of the Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20551.
    All public comments are available from the Board's Web site at 
https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx as submitted, 
unless modified for technical reasons. Accordingly, your 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 
9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays.
    Additionally, commenters may send a copy of their comments to the 
OMB Desk Officer--Shagufta Ahmed--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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A copy of the PRA OMB submission, 
including the proposed reporting form and instructions, 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 Federal Reserve Board's public Web site at: https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/review.aspx or may be requested 
from the agency clearance officer, whose name appears below.
    Federal Reserve Board Acting Clearance Officer--John Schmidt--
Office of the Chief Data Officer, Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551 (202) 452-3829. 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: 

Request for Comment on Information Collection Proposals

    The following information collections, which are being handled 
under this delegated authority, have received initial Board approval 
and are hereby published for comment. At the end of the comment period, 
the proposed information collections, along with an analysis of 
comments and recommendations received, will be submitted to the Board 
for final approval under OMB delegated authority. Comments are invited 
on the following:
    a. Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the Federal Reserve's functions; including 
whether the information has practical utility;
    b. The accuracy of the Federal Reserve'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;
    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; and
    e. Estimates of capital or start up costs and costs of operation, 
maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.

Proposal to approve under OMB delegated authority the extension for 
three years of the following information collection, with revision:

    Report title: Government-administered, General-use Prepaid Card 
Surveys.\1\
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    \1\ The issuer and government surveys, supporting statement, and 
other documentation are available on the Board's public Web site at: 
https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/review.aspx.
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    Agency form number: FR 3063a and FR 3063b.
    OMB control number: 7100-0343.
    Frequency: Annual.
    Reporters: Issuers of government-administered, general-use prepaid 
cards (FR 3063a) and governments that administer general-use prepaid 
card programs (FR 3063b).
    Estimated annual reporting hours: FR 3063a: 375 hours; FR 3063b: 
2,700 hours.
    Estimated average hours per response: FR 3063a: 25 hours; FR 3063b: 
15 hours.
    Number of respondents: FR 3063a: 15; FR 3063b: 180.
    General description of report: This information collection is 
authorized by subsection 920(a) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act 
(EFTA), which was amended by section 1075(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act. 15 
U.S.C. Sec.  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 on the interchange transaction fees 
and cardholder 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

[[Page 56369]]

provide information to enable the Board to carry out the provisions of 
the subsection. 15 U.S.C. 1693o-2(a)(3)(B). The obligation of issuers 
to respond to the issuer survey (FR 3063a) is mandatory. However, the 
obligation of state and local governments to respond to the government 
survey (FR 3063b) is voluntary. A limited amount of information 
collected on the FR 3063a issuer survey is publicly available, and 
thus, is not accorded confidential treatment. However, most of the 
information collected on the FR 3063a issuer survey is not publicly 
available and may be kept confidential as explained herein. Data 
collected by the issuer survey 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). Such data may be kept confidential under exemption 4 if the 
release of data would cause substantial harm to the competitive 
position of the issuer. For example, certain issuer survey responses 
would likely contain information related to an organization's revenue 
structure and other proprietary and commercial information and the 
release of such information would cause substantial harm to the 
competitive position of the issuer and could therefore be kept 
confidential under exemption 4. The information collected on the 
government survey (FR 3063b) is not accorded confidential treatment.
    Abstract: Section 1075(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act 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 the use of such prepaid 
cards.\2\ Section 1075(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act 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.
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    \2\ 15 U.S.C. 1693o-2(a)(7)(D).
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    Current Actions: The Board proposes to revise the issuer survey (FR 
3063a) to collect data on the number of government programs broken out 
by category of disbursement program; net funds loaded onto prepaid 
cards broken out by gross funds loaded and funds voided or returned to 
government offices, as well as by funds loaded pursuant to government-
administered programs and funds loaded from other sources; the average 
daily value of funds outstanding; the value and volume of ATM 
withdrawals broken out by proprietary (in-network) ATMs and 
nonproprietary (out-of-network) ATMs; the amount reimbursed cardholders 
for fees they incurred at nonproprietary ATMs; the value/volume of 
over-the-counter at-bank (teller) withdrawals as well as fees assessed 
to cardholders by third party banks for these withdrawals; the value of 
settled purchase transactions and interchange fee revenue broken out by 
transactions that are exempt and not exempt from the interchange fee 
standards of Regulation II; and sources of revenue collected by issuers 
other than interchange and cardholder fees. The Board also proposes to 
combine current sections II and III as well as current sections XIII 
and IX. In addition, the Board proposes that issuers not be required to 
complete a separate survey for each program. Rather, issuers would be 
required to complete one survey for federal programs in aggregate and 
one survey for state/local programs in aggregate.
    The Board proposes to revise the government survey (FR 3063b) to 
collect data on the number of government programs reported in the 
survey. In addition, the Board proposes to requests public comment on 
the potential effects of repealing the FR 3063b survey.
    Lastly, the Board proposes to make several clarifications to both 
surveys and to delete questions that are no longer relevant from both 
surveys.

Issuer Survey (FR 3063a)

    The issuer survey is required for depository institutions that 
issue general-use prepaid cards for federal, state, or local 
government-administered payment programs. The survey requests 
information on cards associated with accounts domiciled in the United 
States, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.
    The current survey (last administered in early 2014) collects 
information separately for each government-administered payment program 
for which the depository institution is the issuer of general-use 
prepaid cards. The current survey collects information on card programs 
using two types of authentication mechanisms: Dual-message transactions 
and single-message transactions.\3\ The cards issued pursuant to 
government-administered payment programs may be either reloadable or 
non-reloadable.
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    \3\ In dual-message transactions, authorization information is 
carried in one message and clearing information is carried in a 
separate message (typically, these transactions are authenticated 
with a signature). In single-message transactions, authorization and 
clearing information is carried in one message (typically, these 
transactions are authenticated with a PIN). General-use prepaid card 
transactions may use either method (although dual-message 
transactions are more common).
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    The current issuer survey comprises nine sections:
    I. Government-Administered, General-Use Prepaid Card Program 
Information: Respondents report summary information on card programs 
covered in the response including the name of the program(s), whether 
the response covers federal or state/local programs, the geographic 
areas where cards have been issued, the name of the sponsoring 
government agency, the type of payment program, and the number of 
recipients receiving payments on prepaid cards.
    II. Government-Administered Payment Cards: Respondents 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 and single-message networks, cards that can be used 
exclusively on dual-message networks, and cards that can be used on 
exclusively single-message networks. Respondents also report the number 
of cards that can be used on two or more unaffiliated networks.
    III. Funding: Respondents report the value of funds loaded into 
prepaid card accounts and funds outstanding on prepaid card accounts.
    IV. ATM Transactions: Respondents 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 assessed to cardholders by ATM operators of nonproprietary 
(out-of-network) ATMs.
    V. Purchase Transactions: Respondents report summary information on 
the volume and value of settled purchase transactions and the 
allocation of the volume and value of settled purchase transactions 
between single-message transactions and dual-message transactions.
    VI. Fees Paid by Issuers: Respondents report the fees paid by 
issuers to third parties for ATM cash withdrawals and over-the-counter 
(OTC) at-bank (teller) cash withdrawals.
    VII. Issuer Revenue: Interchange Fees: Respondents report 
interchange fee revenue received on settled purchase transactions and 
the allocation of interchange fee revenue received on dual-message 
transactions and single-message transactions.
    VIII. Issuer Revenue: Cardholder Fees: Respondents report total 
revenue received on all fees assessed to cardholders and the allocation 
revenue received from cardholder fees between purchase transaction 
fees, ATM fees,

[[Page 56370]]

OTC fees, account servicing fees, routine monthly fees, customer 
service inquiry fees, penalty fees, overdraft fees, and all other 
cardholder fees.
    IX. Fees Assessed to Cardholders: Respondents provide summary 
information on fees assessed to cardholders, including purchase 
transaction fees, ATM fees, OTC fees, account servicing fees, routine 
monthly fees, customer service inquiry fees, penalty fees, overdraft 
fees and all other cardholder fees.

Proposed Revisions to Issuer Survey (FR 3063a)

    The Board proposes to modify the survey reporting structure to 
reduce burden on respondents. Currently, a respondent is required to 
complete the survey for each individual government-administered payment 
program for which the respondent is the prepaid card issuer. The Board 
has modified the survey instrument so that issuers will be required to 
complete the survey only twice: Once for all federal programs (in 
aggregate) and once for all state/local programs (in aggregate). The 
Board believes that the proposed structure will reduce reporting burden 
without significantly compromising the value of the data collected. In 
addition, the Board proposes to streamline the survey by combining 
relevant questions in current sections II and III and combining 
relevant questions in current sections XIII and IX. A section-by-
section description of the changes is provided below.

Section I: Program Information (Renamed From ``Government-Administered, 
General-Use Prepaid Card Program Information'')

    Questions 1 and 2 (revised survey): Number of government-
administered payment program(s) covered in this response. The Board 
proposes to add question 1 (to the revised survey) to obtain an 
accurate count of the government-administered payment programs on which 
issuers will report. The Board also proposes to add question 2 (to the 
revised survey) which requests a breakout of the number of programs 
between program categories (such as child support, payroll, and so on). 
This breakout replaces question 5 (of the current survey) which asks 
issuers to indicate (via a check box) categories on an individual 
program basis. Questions 1 and 2 (of the revised survey) support the 
Board's proposed revision to the reporting structure which would allow 
issuers to provide aggregate responses for their programs.
    Question 2 (current survey): Does this response cover a federal or 
a state/local program(s)? The Board proposes to delete question 2 (of 
the current survey). Under the proposed revision to the reporting 
structure, respondents would complete the survey once for federal 
programs and once for state/local programs.
    Question 3 (current survey): Jurisdiction(s)--Geographic area in 
which the government-administered, general-use prepaid cards have been 
issued.
    The Board proposes to delete question 3 (of the current survey). 
The Board believes that the information captured in this question is no 
longer necessary to support the Board's annual report.
    Question 3 (revised survey): Name of program and sponsoring 
government agency. The Board proposes to combine question 1 (of the 
current survey) which asks for the name of the government-administered 
payment program and question 4 (of the current survey) which requests 
the name of the sponsoring government agency (the agency administering 
a government-administered payment program). The combined question 3 (of 
the proposed survey) provides a grid of input boxes so that a 
respondent can enter information separately for each government program 
included in a response. This new format supports the Board's proposed 
revision to the reporting structure which would allow issuers to 
provide aggregate responses for their programs.
    Question 6 (current survey): Recipients receiving payments on 
government-administered, general-use prepaid cards. The Board proposes 
to delete question 6 (of the current survey). A cardholder may receive 
payments on behalf of multiple individuals. As a result, an issuing 
bank is sometimes unable to provide an accurate count of all 
individuals receiving payments.

Section II: Government-Administered Payment Cards (Current Survey)--
(Deleted)

    The Board proposes to delete section II (of the current survey), 
which captures the number of prepaid cards outstanding, and a breakout 
of this number between cards that can be used on single-message 
networks, dual-message networks, and two or more unaffiliated networks. 
The question requesting the total number of cards outstanding will be 
moved to the section of the revised survey titled ``Card Funding.'' The 
remaining questions in section II (of the current survey), which focus 
on the network functionality of the cards outstanding, will be deleted.
    In previous reports to the Congress on government-administered, 
general-use prepaid cards, the Board reported on interchange fee 
statistics broken out by single-message and dual-message transactions. 
Interchange fee statistics for the broader population of general-use 
prepaid cards by network type are published in the Board's other 
reports on covered debit card issuers and payment card networks. 
Because interchange fees by network type do not vary substantially 
between government-administered, general-use prepaid cards and the 
broader population of exempt general-use prepaid cards, the Board 
believes that it is no longer necessary to collect network-related 
information in this survey.

Section II: Card Funding (Renumbered From ``Section III'' and Renamed 
From ``Funding'')

    Question 1 (revised survey): Government-administered, general-use 
prepaid cards outstanding. As discussed above, the Board proposes to 
move this question from the deleted section titled ``Government-
Administered Payment Cards''.
    Questions 2 and 3 (revised survey): Net funds loaded onto 
government-administered, general-use prepaid cards. Question 1 (of the 
current survey) asks for the funds loaded onto government-administered, 
general-use prepaid cards. The Board is aware that program funds 
initially made available to a cardholder may subsequently be removed 
from the cardholder's account; specifically, funds may be voided or 
returned to the government agency or other funding entity. Funds may be 
removed from an account due to unused balances after a specified period 
of time, long-term account inactivity, or some other reason (unrelated 
to fees). The Board proposes to clarify the current question on funding 
by asking for the net funds loaded onto cards (excluding funds voided 
or returned) in question 2 (of the revised survey) and for a breakout 
of net funds loaded onto cards between gross funds loaded and funds 
voided or returned in question 3 (of the revised survey). In addition 
to increasing survey clarity, this breakout would allow the Board to 
calculate additional prevalence-of-use metrics.
    Question 4 (revised survey): Net funds loaded by funding source. 
The Board proposes to add question 4 (to the revised survey), which 
requests a breakout of the net funds loaded onto government-
administered, general-use prepaid cards between funds loaded pursuant 
to various categories of government-administered payment programs and 
funds loaded from other

[[Page 56371]]

sources. Collecting funding information by program category type 
supports the Board's proposed revision to the reporting structure which 
would allow issuers to provide aggregate responses for their programs. 
Further, for a covered issuer to receive the exemption from the 
interchange fee standards of Regulation II with respect to cards issued 
under a government-administered payment program, cardholders may use 
their cards only to transfer or debit funds, monetary value, or other 
assets that have been provided pursuant to the program. Question 4 (of 
the revised survey) would allow the Board to better understand whether 
(and if so, the extent to which) issuers fulfill this requirement to 
receive the exemption.
    Question 6 (revised survey): Average daily value of funds 
outstanding. The Board proposes to add question 6 (to the revised 
survey) to capture average daily balances on government-administered 
general-use prepaid cards. Question 6 will allow the Board to calculate 
additional prevalence-of-use metrics.

Section III: Cash Withdrawals (Renumbered From ``Section IV'' Renamed 
From ``ATM Transactions'')

    Questions 1: (current survey): Government-administered, general-use 
prepaid cards outstanding that can be used to make ATM cash 
withdrawals. The Board proposes to delete question 1 (of the current 
survey) because it is no longer needed for the annual report.
    Question 2 (revised survey): Total ATM cash withdrawals. The Board 
proposes to add question 2 (to the revised survey) to obtain a breakout 
of the total ATM cash withdrawal volume and value between withdrawals 
at proprietary (in-network) and nonproprietary (out-of-network) ATMs. 
This breakout would allow the Board to calculate new prevalence-of-use 
metrics related to ATM transactions and to calculate ATM-fee metrics 
more precisely.
    Question 3a (revised survey): ATM fees reimbursed to cardholders. 
The Board proposes to add question 3a (to the revised survey) to 
capture the value of reimbursements made to cardholders by issuers for 
ATM fees assessed by ATM operators of nonproprietary (out-of-network) 
ATMs for cash withdrawals. Question 3a would allow the Board to 
estimate cardholder fee metrics more precisely.
    Questions 4-6 (revised survey): Over-the-counter at-bank (teller) 
cash withdrawals. The Board proposes to add questions 4-6 (to the 
revised survey) to capture information related to over-the-counter at-
bank (teller) cash withdrawals. These questions mirror questions 1-3 
(of the revised survey) on ATM withdrawals. Information on over-the-
counter cash withdrawals would allow the Board to calculate additional 
prevalence of use metrics and estimate fee metrics more precisely.

Section IV: Purchase Transactions (Renumbered From ``Section V'')

    Question 1 (revised survey): Settled purchase transactions. The 
Board proposes to specify that cash back amounts should be included in 
the value of settled purchase transactions. The Board also proposes to 
add question 1a.1 (to the revised survey) to request a breakout of the 
value of transactions that included cash back between the purchase 
value and cash-back value. The Board believes the new language and 
additional question will enhance survey clarity. Further, the breakout 
of the purchase and cash-back amounts will allow the Board to calculate 
additional prevalence-of-use metrics.
    Question 2 (current survey): Settled purchase transactions by 
network type. The Board proposes to delete question 2 (of the current 
survey) which asks for a breakout of total settled purchase 
transactions (volume and value) between single-message transactions and 
dual-message transactions. As discussed above in the paragraph titled 
``Section II: Government-Administered Payment Cards (current survey),'' 
the Board believes that it is no longer necessary to collect network-
related information in this survey.
    Question 2 (revised survey): Exempt vs. non-exempt transactions. 
The Board proposes to add question 2 (to the revised survey) to break 
out total settled purchase transactions (volume and value) between 
transactions that are exempt and not exempt from the interchange fee 
standards of Regulation II.
    An electronic debit transaction made using a general-use prepaid 
card that has been provided pursuant to a government-administered 
payment program is exempt from the interchange fee standards for a 
given calendar year if one of the following two conditions applies:
    (1) The issuer, along with its affiliates worldwide, has assets 
that are less than $10 billion, as of December 31 of the prior calendar 
year.
    (2) The issuer, along with its affiliates worldwide, has assets 
that are greater than or equal to $10 billion, as of December 31 of the 
prior calendar year, and all of the following conditions apply:
     The cardholder may use the debit card only to transfer or 
debit funds, monetary value, or other assets that have been provided 
pursuant to a government-administered payment program;
     The issuer does not charge a fee for overdrafts, including 
a shortage of funds or a transaction processed for an amount exceeding 
the account balance, unless the fee or charge is imposed for 
transferring funds from another asset account to cover a shortfall in 
the account accessed by the card; and
     The issuer does not charge a fee for the first withdrawal 
per calendar month from an ATM that is part of the issuer's designated 
ATM network.
    The breakout in question 2 (of the revised survey) would allow the 
Board to better understand whether (and if so, the extent to which) 
issuers choose to receive the exemption with respect to their 
government-administered, general-use prepaid card programs, and 
further, would allow the Board to calculate interchange fee metrics for 
both exempt and non-exempt transactions.

Section V: Fees Paid by Issuers (Renumbered From ``Section VI'')

    There are no proposed changes to the questions in this section.

Section VI: Issuer Revenue: Interchange Fees (Renumbered From ``Section 
VII'')

    Question 2 (current survey): Interchange fee revenue by network 
type. The Board proposes to delete question 2 (of the current survey) 
which asks for the breakout of total interchange fee revenue between 
revenue received from single-message transactions and dual-message 
transactions. As discussed above in the paragraph titled ``Section II: 
Government-Administered Payment Cards (current survey)'', the Board 
believes that it is no longer necessary to collect network-related 
information in this survey.
    Question 2 (revised survey): Exempt vs. non-exempt transactions. 
The Board proposes to add question 2 (to the revised survey) to break 
out the total interchange fee revenue between interchange fee revenue 
from transactions that are exempt and those that are not exempt from 
the interchange fee standards of Regulation II. This breakout would 
allow the Board to better understand whether (and if so, the extent to 
which) issuers receive the exemption from the interchange fee standards 
of Regulation II with respect to their government-administered prepaid 
card programs, and, further, would allow the Board to calculate 
interchange-fee metrics for both exempt and non-exempt transactions.

[[Page 56372]]

Section VII: Issuer Revenue: Cardholder Fees (Renumbered From ``Section 
VIII'')

    The Board proposes to combine relevant questions related to 
cardholder fee revenue in sections XIII and IX (of the current survey) 
to streamline the survey and reduce reporting burden. The current 
section IX, which contains detailed questions on each type of 
cardholder fee, would be eliminated, significantly reducing the number 
of questions in the survey.
    Questions 1 and 2 (revised survey): All fees assessed to 
cardholders. Questions 1 and 2 (of the current survey) ask for the 
total revenue received from certain types of cardholder fees. The Board 
proposes to add a column of numerical boxes to request the number of 
times each type of fee was assessed, a column of numerical boxes to 
request the number of programs in which each type of fee is subject to 
government-imposed restrictions, and a column of text boxes to request 
a description of government-imposed restrictions on fees. These 
additional questions appear in section IX (of the current survey) 
titled ``Fees Assessed to Cardholders'', which, as discussed below, the 
Board is also proposing to eliminate. In addition to reducing reporting 
burden, the Board believes that combining the questions related to 
cardholder fee revenue with those requesting the number of times fees 
were assessed will increase survey clarity and the quality of submitted 
responses. Further, the numerical box intended to collect the number of 
programs in which each type of fee is subject to government-imposed 
restrictions allows issuers to report aggregate information on 
government imposed restrictions (in contrast to the `yes/no' question 
format in the current survey). Therefore, this new question format 
supports the Board's proposed revision to the reporting structure which 
would allow issuers to provide aggregate responses for their programs.

Section XIII (Revised Survey): Issuer Revenue: Other (New Section)

    The Board proposes to create a new section titled ``Issuer Revenue: 
Other'', with four questions to capture revenue received by issuers 
that are not captured by the current survey:
    Question 1 (revised survey): Total revenue received from fees 
assessed to government office(s).
    Question 2 (revised survey): Total value of incentive payments 
received from payment card networks. Incentive payments are payments 
received by an issuer from a payment card network with respect to debit 
card transactions or debit-card-related activity. Issuer incentives may 
be based on reaching specified volume levels, promoting the network's 
brand through marketing activities, converting the issuer's debit card 
base to a different signature network, or undertaking other activities. 
Incentive payments do not include payments from a network to an issuer 
for traditional banking services the issuer provides the network (for 
example, transaction account services to the network).
    Question 3 (revised survey): Total revenue received from all other 
sources.
    This new section will provide the Board with a more complete 
picture of the types of revenue received by issuers of government-
administered, general-use prepaid cards.

Section IX: Fees Assessed to Cardholders (Current Survey)--(Deleted)

    The Board proposes to eliminate section IX (of the current survey) 
to reduce reporting burden. As discussed above under the heading 
``Section VII: Issuer Revenue: Cardholder Fees'', the Board proposes to 
combine specific questions in sections XIII and IX (of the current 
survey). Those questions in section IX (of the current survey) that 
were not combined with section XIII (of the current survey) would be 
eliminated. The Board believes that the information captured in the 
deleted questions are no longer relevant for the report process.

Government Survey (3063b)

    The government survey is voluntary and is sent to state and local 
government offices to submit information about the prevalence of use of 
general-use prepaid cards in federal, state, and local government-
administered payment programs. The current government survey (last 
administered in early 2014) comprises three sections:
    1. Government-Administered, General-Use Prepaid Card Program 
Information: Respondents report summary information on the government-
administered payment program(s) covered in the response, whether the 
response covers federal or state/local programs, sponsoring government 
agency/agencies, card-issuing bank(s), the type of payment program(s), 
the number of recipients receiving payments (by any payment method), 
and the number of recipients receiving payments by prepaid cards.
    2. Cards: Respondents report the number of cards outstanding at 
year-end.
    3. Funding: Respondents report the value of funds loaded into 
prepaid card accounts and the value of all funds paid (by all payment 
methods).

Proposed Revisions to Government Survey (FR 3063b)

Section I: Government-Administered, General-Use Prepaid Card Program 
Information

    Question 1a (revised survey): Number of government-administered 
payment program(s) covered in this response. The Board proposes to add 
question 1a (to the revised survey) to obtain a more accurate count of 
the programs government offices are reporting on.
    Question 2 (revised survey): Sponsoring government agency. The 
Board proposes to combine question 4 (of the current survey) which 
requests the name of the sponsoring agency (the agency administering a 
government-administered payment program) and question 2 (of the current 
survey) which asks whether the response covers a state/local or federal 
program. The combined question 2 (of the revised survey) would ask for 
the name of the sponsoring agency and whether the sponsoring agency's 
jurisdiction is state/local or federal. The Board believes that 
combining the two questions will improve survey clarity and the quality 
of submitted responses.

Section II: Number of Cards (Renamed From ``Government-Administered 
Payment Cards'')

    There are no proposed changes to the questions in this section.

Section III: Funds Disbursed to Payment Recipients (Renamed From 
``Funding'')

    Questions 1 and 2: The Board proposes to reorder and modify 
questions 1 and 2. Respondents would first report total funds disbursed 
in question 1 (of the revised survey) and break that figure out between 
funds disbursed by prepaid cards and funds disbursed by all other 
payment methods in question 2 (of the revised survey). The Board 
expects that this breakout will improve question clarity and the 
quality of submitted responses.

Additional Request for Comment Regarding the Government Survey

    The Board requests specific comment regarding the potential impact 
of eliminating the government survey (FR 3063b). The Board currently 
uses the responses provided by government agencies to calculate and 
report prevalence-of-use metrics; specifically, the government data 
allow the Board to report the ratio of funds disbursed by prepaid cards 
to funds disbursed by all payment methods (check, ACH, payment cards, 
etc.) across different

[[Page 56373]]

types of government-administered payment programs. Should the Board 
decide to eliminate the government survey, it would rely on data from 
the issuer survey (FR 3063a) to report on prevalence of use. Because 
issuers of government-administered prepaid cards are unable to report 
on the value of government-agency disbursements made by payment methods 
other than prepaid cards, the Board would not report the ratio of funds 
disbursed by prepaid card to funds disbursed by all payment methods. 
However, the Board would report alternative prevalence-of-use metrics, 
including the value of funds loaded onto government-administered 
prepaid cards, the volume and value of settled purchase transactions, 
and the volume and value of ATM withdrawals.
    The Board believes that eliminating the government survey would 
significantly reduce reporting burden on the public. At the same time, 
however, this change could increase burden on the public in other 
respects, because some members of the public may rely on the 
prevalence-of-use ratio currently reported by the Board. The Board 
requests specific comment on whether the potential benefits of 
eliminating the government survey outweigh the potential costs.
    The Board also requests specific comment regarding the existence of 
reputable reports or other data sources that would allow the Board to 
continue to calculate the ratio of the value funds disbursed by prepaid 
card to funds disbursed by all payment methods. As discussed above, the 
Board currently collects prepaid card funding information with the 
issuer survey. The Board is interested in finding reputable data 
sources containing the value of funds disbursed by all payment methods 
at the program category level. For example, the Board has identified 
potential data sources for four categories:
    1. Unemployment insurance programs--the United States Department of 
Labor publishes total unemployment insurance outlays under the 
Unemployment Insurance Chartbook.
    2. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)--the United 
States Department of Agriculture publishes total outlays under the SNAP 
program on its data Web site.
    3. Payroll programs--the United States Census Bureau publishes 
payroll estimates for federal, state, and local governments based on 
its Annual Survey of Public Employment and Payroll.
    4. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs--The 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services publishes annual TANF 
expenditures on its data Web site.
    The Board requests specific comment on whether additional sources 
of expenditure data at the program category level exist.
    The proposed revisions to both surveys would be effective for the 
collection during the first half of 2015 of calendar year 2014 data.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, September 16, 
2014.
Robert deV. Frierson,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2014-22357 Filed 9-18-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P