Notice of Fee Increase for Our Electronic Consent Based Social Security Number Verification Service, 29959-29960 [2023-09753]

Agencies

• Social Security Administration

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 9, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29959-29960]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09753]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No. SSA 2023-0003]


Notice of Fee Increase for Our Electronic Consent Based Social 
Security Number Verification Service

AGENCY: Social Security Administration.

ACTION: Notice of fee increase.

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SUMMARY: The Social Security Administration (SSA) is announcing a 
change in the subscription tier structure and associated fees for the 
electronic Consent Based Social Security Number (SSN) Verification 
(eCBSV) service. In accordance with statutory requirements, a permitted 
entity (PE) is required to provide payment to reimburse SSA for the 
development and support of the eCBSV system.

DATES: Applicability date for fee increase: The revised subscription 
tier structure and associated fees will go into effect for subscription 
payments made on or after July 10, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher David, Office of Data 
Exchange, Policy Publications, and International Negotiations, Social 
Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 
21235-6401, (866) 395-8801, email [email protected].
    For information on eligibility or filing for benefits, call SSA's 
national toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213 or TTY 1-800-325-0778, or 
visit SSA's internet site, Social Security Online, at https://www.socialsecurity.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 215 of the Economic Growth, 
Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act \1\ (the Banking Bill) 
directs SSA to modify or develop a database for accepting and comparing 
fraud protection data \2\ provided electronically by a PE.\3\ In 
response to this statutory directive, SSA created eCBSV, a fee-based 
SSN verification service. eCBSV allows PEs to submit, based on the 
number holder's consent,\4\ the SSN, name, and date of birth of the 
number holder in connection with a credit transaction or a circumstance 
described in section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act to SSA

[[Page 29960]]

for verification via an application programming interface. Each PE must 
submit a certification statement \5\ that the PE is in compliance with 
the Banking Bill as part of their application to SSA.
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    \1\ Public Law 115-174, codified at 42 U.S.C. 405b.
    \2\ The Banking Bill defines ``Fraud Protection Data'' to mean a 
combination of an individual's name (including the first name and 
any family forename or surname), SSN, and date of birth (including 
month, day, and year). Public Law 115-174, title II, 215(b)(3), 
codified at 42 U.S.C. 405b(b)(3).
    \3\ The Banking Bill defines a ``permitted entity'' to mean a 
financial institution or service provider, subsidiary, affiliate, 
agent, subcontractor, or assignee of a financial institution. Public 
Law 115-174, title II, 215(b)(4), codified at 42 U.S.C. 405b(b)(4). 
They must possess an Employer Identification Number and a Dun and 
Bradstreet number.
    \4\ Under the eCBSV User Agreement, valid Written Consent must 
meet the requirements of applicable Federal law, SSA's regulations, 
and section IV of the eCBSV User Agreement. Valid Written consent 
must include a wet or electronic signature. Section IV.A.1. eCBSV 
User Agreement. Electronic signatures must meet the definition in 
section 106 of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National 
Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. 7006). 42 U.S.C. 405b(f)(2); section IV.E. 
eCBSV User Agreement. The written consent must clearly specify to 
whom the information may be disclosed, the information you want us 
to disclose (e.g., SSN verification) and, where applicable, during 
which timeframe the information may be disclosed (e.g., whenever the 
subject individual is receiving specific services). 20 CFR 401.100.
    \5\ The permitted entity must certify that (1) the entity is a 
permitted entity; (2) the entity is in compliance with section 215; 
(3) the entity is, and will remain, in compliance with its privacy 
and data security requirements in title V of 15 U.S.C. 6801, et 
seq., with respect to the information the entity receives from the 
Commissioner of Social Security pursuant to this section; and (4) 
the entity will retain sufficient records to demonstrate its 
compliance with its certification and section 215 for a period of 
not less than 2 years. 42 U.S.C. 405b(e)(1)-(3).
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    SSA revised the subscription tier structure and associated fees for 
eCBSV in 2022 but program participation remains markedly lower than 
estimated by the financial industry. Limited program participation has 
led us to re-evaluate the fees we charge our customers.

Fees

    The public cost burden is dependent upon the number of PEs using 
the service and the annual transaction volume. We based the revised 
tier fee schedule below on 20 participating PEs in fiscal year (FY) 
2023 submitting an anticipated volume of 65 million transactions.\6\ 
The total cost for developing and operating the service is $53 million 
through FY 2022. Of this amount, $38 million remains unrecovered/
unreimbursed. The new subscription tier structure and associated fees 
are intended to recover these costs over a three-year period, assuming 
projected enrollments and transaction volumes meet these projections.
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    \6\ At the time we completed our evaluation in November 2022, we 
projected 20 participating PEs for FY 2023, and the new tiers were 
based on these projected 20 PEs. As more PEs join, we will capture 
them in our future evaluations, and adjust the tiers at that time, 
if necessary.

                         eCBSV Tier Fee Schedule
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           Tier                Annual volume threshold      Annual fee
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1.........................  Up to 10,000 (1-10,000).....          $7,000
2.........................  Up to 200,000 (10,001-               130,000
                             200,000).
3.........................  Up to 1 million (200,001-1           630,000
                             million).
4.........................  Up to 2.5 million (1,000,001-      1,500,000
                             2.5 million).
5.........................  Up to 5 million (2,500,001-5       3,000,000
                             million).
6.........................  Up to 10 million (5,000,001-       4,500,000
                             10 million).
7.........................  Up to 15 million (10,000,001-      5,000,000
                             15 million).
8.........................  Up to 20 million (15,000,001-      6,250,000
                             20 million).
9.........................  Up to 25 million (20,000,001-      7,250,000
                             25 million).
10........................  Up to 75 million (25,000,001-      8,250,000
                             75 million).
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    Each enrolled PE will be required to remit the above tier-based 
subscription fee for the 365-day agreement period starting on or after 
July 10, 2023.\7\ Fees are calculated based on forecasted systems and 
operational expenses, agency oversight, overhead, and Certified Public 
Accountant audit contract costs.
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    \7\ As of April 25, 2022, SSA no longer charged a separate 
administrative fee in addition to the tier-based subscription fee.
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    Section 215(h)(1)(B) of the Banking Bill requires that the 
Commissioner shall ``periodically adjust'' the price paid by users to 
ensure that amounts collected are sufficient to fully offset the costs 
of administering the eCBSV system. On at least an annual basis, SSA 
will monitor costs incurred to provide eCBSV services and will revise 
the tier fee schedule accordingly. We will notify PEs of the tier fee 
schedule in effect at the renewal of eCBSV user agreements, when a PE 
begins a new 365-day agreement period, and via notice in the Federal 
Register. PE renewals will be governed by the tier in effect at the 
time of renewal.

Michelle King,
Deputy Commissioner, Office of Budget, Finance, and Management, Social 
Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023-09753 Filed 5-8-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P