Federal Reserve System September 15, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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.