[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 59 (Wednesday, March 27, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11541-11545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-05823]


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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

ACTION: Notice, request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) 
invites comment on a proposal to extend for three years, with revision, 
the Federal Reserve Payments Study (FR 3066; OMB No. 7100-0351).

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before May 28, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by FR 3066, by any of 
the following methods:
     Agency Website: http://www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments at http://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx.
     Email: [email protected]. Include OMB 
number in the subject line of the message.
     FAX: (202) 452-3819 or (202) 452-3102.
     Mail: Ann E. Misback, Secretary, Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20551.
    All public comments are available on the Board's website at http://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 in Room 146, 
1709 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006, between 9:00 a.m. and 
5:00 p.m. on weekdays. For security reasons, the Board requires that 
visitors make an appointment to inspect comments. You may do so by 
calling (202) 452-3684. Upon arrival, visitors will be required to 
present valid government-issued photo identification and to submit to 
security screening in order to inspect and photocopy comments.
    Additionally, commenters may send a copy of their comments to the 
Office of Management and Budget (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 Paperwork Reduction Act 
(PRA) OMB submission, including the proposed reporting form and 
instructions, supporting statement, and other documentation will be 
placed into OMB's public docket files, if approved. These documents 
will also be made available on the Board's public website at http://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/review.aspx or may be requested 
from the agency clearance officer, whose name appears below.
    Federal Reserve Board Clearance Officer--Nuha Elmaghrabi--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: On June 15, 1984, OMB delegated to the Board 
authority under the PRA to approve and assign OMB control numbers to 
collection of information requests and requirements conducted or 
sponsored by the Board. In exercising this delegated authority, the 
Board is directed to take every reasonable step to solicit comment. In 
determining whether to approve a collection of information, the Board 
will consider all comments received from the public and other agencies.

Request for Comment on Information Collection Proposal

    The Board invites public comment on the following information 
collection, which is being reviewed under authority delegated by the 
OMB under the PRA. Comments are invited on 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;

[[Page 11542]]

    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;
    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 startup costs and costs of operation, 
maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.
    At the end of the comment period, the comments and recommendations 
received will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the Board 
should modify the proposal.

Proposal Under OMB Delegated Authority To Extend for Three Years, With 
Revision, the Following Information Collection

    Report title: Federal Reserve Payments Study.
    Agency form number: FR 3066a, FR 3066b.
    OMB control number: 7100-0351.
    Frequency: Annual.
    Respondents: Depository and financial institutions, general-purpose 
payment networks, third-party payment processors, issuers of private-
label cards, and providers of various alternative payment initiation 
methods and systems.
    Estimated number of respondents: FR 3066a: 495; FR 3066b: 82.
    Estimated average hours per response: FR 3066a: 22 hours; FR 3066b: 
8 hours.
    Estimated annual burden hours: FR 3066a: 10,890 hours; FR 3066b: 
656 hours.
    General description of report: These surveys help to support the 
Federal Reserve System's (Federal Reserve's) role in the payments 
system.\1\ The FR 3066a and FR 3066b would consist of a full set of 
surveys for 2019 and, following the pattern established in the previous 
three-year period, smaller versions of the surveys for 2020 and 2021. 
The reference period for each survey is the previous calendar year. The 
Federal Reserve Payments Study (FRPS) publishes aggregate estimates of 
payment volumes and related information derived from the surveys.
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    \1\ The Federal Reserve plays a vital role in the U.S. payments 
system, fostering its safety and efficiency, and providing a variety 
of financial services to depository institutions.
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    Proposed revisions: Proposed revisions to the survey questions 
reflect an increased focus on payments fraud and security concerns, 
adaptations to new developments in payments technology, feedback from 
responding institutions, and experience from analyzing the survey 
outcomes. Some questions would be added as a result, but more questions 
would be removed, resulting in a net reduction in questions for 2019 
compared with 2016.
    As authorized, the Board reduced the number of questions included 
in the 2017 and 2018 annual supplemental surveys.\2\ They also included 
some revisions to questions within the scope of authorization for those 
surveys, which helped to inform some of the proposed revisions. The 
proposed revisions for the 2019 triennial survey in comparison to the 
2016 triennial surveys are described below.
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    \2\ Reports and survey instruments in previous years are 
available at the Federal Reserve Payments Study website (https://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/fr-payments-study.htm).
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    FR 3066a. This survey seeks to collect information on volumes of 
payments and related activities from depository institutions and 
general-purpose credit card issuers, including commercial banks, 
savings institutions, and credit unions, divided into sections 
corresponding to payment types as listed below. The survey is 
structured to collect volume totals across the enterprise, meaning 
either a separate survey for unaffiliated depository institutions or a 
combined survey for sets of affiliated depository institutions 
organized under a holding company. Surveys are organized to collect 
separate total volumes for sections divided by payment type, followed 
by allocations of totals within sections that provide information about 
volumes of various processing methods, technologies, and usage. The 
survey generally includes an allocation of the total of each type of 
section-level payment into consumer and business volumes. Other kinds 
of allocations vary by section.
    The Board proposes to make changes to categorical questions to 
provide clarity and to make them consistent with the proposed changes 
to volume questions. The Board proposes to distribute questions 
currently in the unauthorized third-party fraud into their respective 
payment type sections. Revisions to the fraud questions are discussed 
separately at the end of this section.
    A description of the proposed survey questionnaire employed for FR 
3066a, and proposed revisions to the 2019 survey compared with the 2016 
survey, is as follows:
    1. Affiliates: FR 3066a requests that survey participants report 
data at the holding company level for the entire enterprise, including 
all affiliate depository institutions, if applicable. To ensure 
accuracy, confirmation of these affiliates is requested. In the current 
survey, a simple listing of affiliated depository institutions is 
provided, and broad confirmation of its accuracy is requested. The 
Board proposes a revised version of the affiliates question, which 
would be included in a separate affiliates section. This revised 
question requests confirmation of whether or not the volumes in each 
section of the survey includes activity associated with the individual 
affiliated depository institutions. This more detailed information will 
accommodate occasional difficulties in providing complete information 
for some sections, and provide for more accurate validation of reported 
data.
    2. Institution Profile: The institution profile section includes 
questions regarding the number and value of transaction deposit 
accounts of consumers and businesses (sometimes called checking 
accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) accounts, or share draft 
accounts), and related retail and wholesale sweep accounts to 
understand the relationships between the accounts and payments. The 
Board proposes to remove the categorical question regarding whether the 
institution provides card-acquiring services.
    3. Checks: The check section collects information about volumes of 
checks paid, deposited, and returned. The Board proposes to discontinue 
questions on check deposit allocations and only retain the question on 
the volume of total checks deposited. As a result, the survey would no 
longer track a variety of volumes and trends including consumer and 
business check deposits, remote deposit capture methods, including 
consumer mobile deposits, as well as paper check deposits at branches, 
automated teller machines (ATMs), and wholesale vaults. The survey 
would also no longer track remotely created checks. Check payments and 
returns questions would remain the same.
    4. Automated Clearing House (ACH): The ACH section collects 
information about the volumes of originations and receipts of ACH 
transfers, and outgoing returns. The Board proposes to discontinue 
questions on ACH offsets, and a variety of details on ACH returns.\3\

[[Page 11543]]

The proposed revisions would add questions on direct exchange and same-
day settlement volumes. The removal of the offset questions recognizes 
that the costs of tracking offsets exceed the benefits, that methods of 
using and tracking offsets are not consistent enough to be estimated 
separately with precision, and that many respondents lack information 
about them. Respondents are asked to exclude any offsets, if possible. 
As a result, however, the Board recognizes that measured ACH volumes 
will be inflated by an unknown quantity of offsets, which tends to 
affect value estimates more than number. Values and average values will 
tend to be inflated, and other ACH measures will also be affected. For 
example, calculated fraud rates are deflated in cases where offsets 
cannot be removed.
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    \3\ Offset entries are used internally by some depository 
institutions to bundle several ACH payments, such as a collection of 
consumer bill payments to a single payee, into one ACH payment. 
Processing each offset entry may increase the number of payments in 
a bundle by one and double the amount of value. Offset entries can 
be processed in house or over the network.
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    5. Wire Transfers: The wire transfer section includes questions 
regarding the number and value of wire originations and receipts 
allocated between network and book transfers. The Board proposes to 
retain total wire receipts, but remove its subcategories. This 
reduction in wire receipt details parallels the reduction in details of 
check deposits.
    6. Non-Prepaid Debit Cards: The Board proposes to separate the non-
prepaid debit and general-purpose prepaid sections of the survey. This 
change removes a question on the sum of debit and prepaid card 
transactions, and another on the sum of cash-back from debit and 
prepaid cards. The general-purpose debit card section includes 
questions on the volumes of debit card transactions with various 
allocations, as well as the number tally of consumer and business cards 
in force and with purchase activity. The Board proposes to remove the 
question on the number of chip-enabled cards in force. Cash-back at the 
point of sale is also collected from respondents. Allocations between 
card-present and card-not present are proposed to be replaced with 
allocations between in-person and remote, following the change 
implemented in the current 3066b. The Board proposes to remove the 
questions allocating card-present transactions between PIN, signature-
authenticated, and other (no signature required), replacing them with 
an allocation of in-person transactions between those with and without 
a PIN. Card-not-present would be replaced with remote, and an 
allocation of remote between domestic (U.S.) payee and foreign (cross-
border) payee would be added. The Board proposes to add a question on 
the number of debit card transactions made via a digital wallet, 
including tokenized digital wallet, to include an allocation between 
in-person and remote transaction volumes.
    7. General-Purpose Prepaid Cards: The general-purpose prepaid card 
section includes questions on the total number and value of prepaid 
card transactions with various allocations, as well as the number tally 
of consumer and business cards in force and with purchase activity. The 
section includes questions on accounts and balances for reloadable and 
non-reloadable prepaid card accounts. The Board proposes changes that 
parallel those described in the general-purpose debit cards section.
    8. General-Purpose Credit Cards: The general-purpose credit card 
section includes questions on the total volumes of credit card 
transactions with various allocations, as well as the number of 
consumer and business cards in force and with purchase activity. The 
Board proposes changes to transaction volume and card tally allocations 
that parallel those described in the general-purpose debit cards 
section. This section also includes questions on accounts and balances 
for business and consumer credit card accounts. For consumer accounts, 
it includes allocations between accounts with current balances only and 
with revolving balances. The Board proposes to modify and expand the 
allocations to include, zero balance, current balance only, revolving 
balance only, and current and revolving balances. These proposed 
revisions are intended to separately collect the portions of current 
activity-only accounts that have zero and nonzero balances and the 
portions of balances in accounts with revolving and current amounts. 
The Board proposes to add questions on general-purpose cobranded cards, 
in order to obtain volumes of non-network card payments. The change is 
expected to provide a more complete picture of the use of credit cards 
for payments (and possibly, rewards) versus borrowing. The Board 
proposes to remove questions on non-network transactions, along with 
the allocation between balance transfers and convenience checks.
    9. Cash: The cash section includes questions on the volumes of cash 
withdrawals and deposits by the common channels used by depository 
institution customers, as well as questions pertaining to cash 
terminals. A key part of the section covers the number and value of 
total ATM cash withdrawals including allocations for ATM withdrawals 
that are on-us and ``foreign'' (meaning via an ATM owned by another 
depository institution). Of the questions related to cash withdrawals, 
the Board proposes to only retain those which allocate cash withdrawals 
by location and account type. The Board proposes to remove number 
tallies of debit and prepaid cards in force with ATM access and with 
ATM withdrawal activity, allocations of cash withdrawals to prepaid 
card program accounts, tallies of debit and prepaid cards in force and 
with ATM withdrawals, allocation of cash withdrawals to consumer, 
business, and prepaid card program accounts. The ATM terminals section 
which includes tallies of the number of active ATM terminals, including 
allocations to owned and sponsored ATMs at branch locations and 
offsite, and tallies of active and total numbers of remote currency 
management terminals, is proposed to be removed. The Board also 
proposes to add a question to allocate ATM withdrawals between domestic 
and cross-border volumes.
    10. Alternative Payment Initiation Methods: The alternative 
payments section asks questions about volumes of online and mobile bill 
and person-to-person payments. The Board proposes to remove business-
to-consumer and business-to-business online and mobile payment volume 
questions. The Board proposes to remove the online and mobile 
allocations for consumer bill payments. The Board also proposes to 
remove these allocations for consumer person-to-person online and 
mobile transfers and to add allocations between ``on-us'' and ``off-
us'' transfers.\4\
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    \4\ ``On-us'' transfer originations include person-to-person 
transfers between two accountholders at the same institution. ``Off-
us'' transfer originations include person-to-person transfers 
between two accountholders at different institutions.
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    11. Unauthorized Third-Party Payment Fraud: As noted, the Board 
proposed to distribute unauthorized third-party fraud questions to the 
corresponding sections of the survey. The Board proposes to add 
allocations of fraudulent ACH credits originated between same-day and 
non-same-day settlement, and allocations of fraudulent ACH debits 
received between same-day and non-same-day settlement. The Board 
proposes to add allocations of fraudulent wire transfers originated 
between domestic and foreign payees. The Board proposes to add a 
question on total fraudulent wire transfer receipts. The Board proposes 
revisions to allocations of fraudulent debit, prepaid, and credit card 
volumes to collect fraudulent in-person volumes, which would replace 
the current card-present volumes, along with adding sub-allocations to 
fraudulent volumes with

[[Page 11544]]

and without PIN authentication. The Board proposes revisions to collect 
fraudulent remote volumes, which would replace the current card-not-
present volumes, along with sub-allocations to fraudulent domestic and 
cross-border volumes. The Board proposes to add allocations for 
fraudulent domestic and cross-border ATM withdrawals. The Board 
proposes to add fraudulent online or mobile person-to-person transfers, 
along with adding allocations to ``on-us'' and ``off-us.''
    FR 3066b. These surveys are conducted as a census of known payment 
networks, processors, card issuers, covered alternative and innovative 
payment initiation methods and systems, and a stratified, 
representative random sample of transit system operators. In general, 
respondents are asked to provide information about any payments volume 
processed during the survey data collection period, by various 
categories listed below. Respondents are asked to report on a range of 
categories between total transactions and net purchase transactions, 
which includes total authorized transactions, chargebacks, adjustments, 
and returns. Most details in the surveys involve allocations of net, 
authorized, and settled transactions, and corresponding allocations of 
related third-party fraudulent transactions. Surveys request 
allocations of totals between consumer and business payments, as well 
as domestic and cross-border payments. Surveys also request the 
distribution of transactions into size categories, and for applicable 
surveys, the number tally of active and in-force cards.
    A description of each of the different surveys employed for FR 
3066b, and proposed revisions to the 2019 surveys compared with the 
2016 surveys, is as follows:
    1. General-Purpose Card Network Surveys (credit card, debit card, 
and prepaid card): These surveys collect the total number and value of 
all types of network payments initiated by the acquirer and made with 
U.S. general-purpose credit, debit, and prepaid cards issued on U.S.-
domiciled accounts carrying a network brand. Data are allocated to the 
in-person and remote payment channels, and further allocated to payment 
technology, venue, and authentication types. The surveys also seek to 
collect number and value of total issuer-reported card fraud types, 
such as lost or stolen, counterfeit, and account takeover. The Board 
proposes moderate changes to the current card network surveys. As in 
the current surveys, card payment volumes would be tracked by entry 
mode. However, the Board proposes to modify the types of entry modes to 
include a breakout of contact and contactless chip cards for in-person 
transaction volumes with chip-authentication, but to remove the 
allocation between those initiated with or without a mobile device. In 
addition, the Board proposes to narrow the in-person card verification 
method categories to only track payment volumes with or without a PIN. 
The Board proposes to add allocations of cross-border transactions 
between in-person and remote. For fraudulent payments, the Board's 
proposed question changes would mirror those for total payments.\5\ In 
addition, the surveys would request distributions across fraudulent 
transaction sizes, and allocations of fraudulent payments between 
consumer and business, as well as for domestic and cross-border. 
Questions requesting the number tally of cards and the allocation of 
the number of terminals with and without chip-acceptance functionality 
activated are proposed to be removed.
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    \5\ The survey was modified to include the term ``forward'' when 
discussing non-return ACH credit and debit transfers that are 
originated by the responding institution. Industry practitioners use 
the term to distinguish that type of transfer from returned 
transfers they also originate of each type. By indicating that the 
transaction is forward, the term helps to clarify confusion arising 
from the fact that ACH can be used to originate and receive both 
credit transfers, associated with outgoing funds, and debit 
transfers, associated with incoming funds.
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    2. Private-Label Credit Card Merchant Issuer Survey, Private-Label 
Credit Card Processor Survey, General-Purpose Prepaid Card Processor 
Survey, and Private-Label Prepaid Card Issuer and Processor Survey: 
These surveys collect the number and value of total payments originated 
from U.S.-domiciled accounts and made with a private-label credit or 
charge card, general-purpose prepaid card, and private-label prepaid 
card. Similar to card network surveys, the Board proposes to 
restructure the payment entry mode and card verification method 
categories to better reflect standard industry reports, but in less 
detail compared with the general-purpose card networks.
    3. Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Card Processor Survey: The 
EBT survey collects data on payments initiated with an EBT card to 
access funds and/or make purchases at approved merchants in accordance 
with government-administered program rules, and to receive cash. 
Transaction types in the proposed EBT survey are allocated between the 
main types of EBT card programs. The Board proposes to remove value 
distribution questions, card-acceptance terminal questions, and the 
number tally of cards in the previous year.
    4. Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Card Network Survey: The ATM card 
network survey collects cash withdrawals and other transaction volumes 
made with U.S. cards, which are issued for U.S.-domiciled accounts and 
originated on the respondent's ATM network, including non-prepaid debit 
cards, prepaid debit cards, and credit cards. The survey also seeks to 
collect the number and value of issuer-reported fraudulent card payment 
types, such as lost or stolen, counterfeit, and account takeover. 
Respondents consist of the domestic ATM networks in the U.S. Most 
respondents also operate general-purpose debit card networks. The Board 
proposes to add total and fraudulent cash withdrawal volume allocations 
between domestic and cross-border for domestic accounts, as well as 
cross border cash withdrawal volume transactions at a domestic ATM for 
accounts domiciled outside the U.S.
    5. Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Card Processor: The Board 
proposes to remove this survey of independent service operators.
    6. Alternative Payment Initiation Methods Processor Surveys: 
Surveys cover alternative, innovative, and emerging payment initiation 
methods and systems. The Board proposes changes to three of these 
surveys.
    a. Toll Collection Processor Payment Survey: The Board proposes a 
simplification of the title, changing the title from ``Electronic Toll 
and Payment Collection Processor Survey.'' The Board also proposes some 
clarifying changes to question descriptions, and removal of the 
questions on the distribution of transactions into various size 
categories.
    b. Online Payment Authentication Methods Processor Survey: The 
survey collects the number and value of online payment authentications 
by method. The Board proposes to remove the allocations between credit 
card and PIN debit for the authentication method of e-commerce 
redirected from the merchant or biller site.
    c. Transit System Operator Payment Survey: The Board proposes 
changes to this survey to first request an allocation of unlinked rides 
between those requiring payment and free rides.
    The Board proposes to discontinue the FR 3066c data collection 
process of check images used to estimate the proportion of checks by 
categories such as payers, payees, and purposes. FRB Atlanta may 
continue a version of the check sample survey using sampled information 
from their own check

[[Page 11545]]

processing operations, an approach that started in 2015.
    The Board also proposes to discontinue the FR 3066d, which was 
designed to serve as a supplemental collection to the FR 3066a and FR 
3066b, targeted at specific payment issues. If such a supplement is 
needed in the future, the Federal Reserve would likely utilize the 
Payments Research Survey (FR 3067; OMB Control No. 7100-0355).
    Legal authorization and confidentiality: The information obtained 
from the FR 3066 may be used in support of the Board's development and 
implementation of regulations, interpretations, and supervisory 
guidance for various payments, consumer protection, and other laws. 
Therefore, the FR 3066 is authorized pursuant to the Board's authority 
under the following statutes:

 Section 609 of the Expedited Funds Availability Act (12 U.S.C. 
4008)
 Sections 904 and 920 of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 
U.S.C. 1693b, 1693o-2)
 Section 105 of the Truth In Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1604)
 Section 15 of the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (12 
U.S.C. 5014) Sections 11, 11A, 13, and 16 of the Federal Reserve Act 
(12 U.S.C. 248, 248a, 342, 248-1, 360, and 411)

    The FR 3066 is voluntary. Information collected on the FR 3066 is 
granted confidential treatment under exemption (b)(4) of the Freedom of 
Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4), which protects from disclosure 
``trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a 
person and privileged or confidential.''
    Consultation outside the agency: As part of the routine execution 
of the surveys, the contractors that recruit responses and collect 
survey data engage with potential participants to review, explain, and 
obtain feedback about the surveys. These conversations help to develop 
or revise proposed questions to make them as relevant to and 
substantively consistent with industry practices as possible.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, March 21, 
2019.
Michele Taylor Fennell,
Assistant Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2019-05823 Filed 3-26-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6210-01-P