[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 10 (Friday, January 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2475-2477]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00638]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No. SSA 2021-0051]


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

AGENCY: Social Security Administration.

ACTION: Notice of open enrollment; fee increase.

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SUMMARY: The Social Security Administration (SSA) is announcing open 
enrollment and a change in the subscription tier structure and 
associated fees for the electronic Consent Based Social Security Number 
(SSN) Verification (eCBSV) service. SSA will open eCBSV enrollment in 
Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, to interested permitted entities (PEs), as 
defined in section 215 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and 
Consumer Protection Act (i.e., the Banking Bill). The open enrollment 
period for PEs will begin on February 21, 2022 and remain open 
indefinitely. In accordance with statutory requirements, PEs will be

[[Page 2476]]

required to provide payment to reimburse SSA for the development and 
support of the eCBSV system.

DATES: 
    Applicability date for open enrollment: Open eCBSV enrollment for 
PEs will commence February 21, 2022, at 6:00 a.m. EST.
    Applicability date for fee increase: The revised subscription tier 
structure and associated fees will go into effect for subscription 
payments made on or after April 25, 2022.

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 http://www.socialsecurity.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 215 of the Banking Bill directs SSA 
to modify or develop a database for accepting and comparing fraud 
protection data \1\ provided electronically by a PE.\2\ In response to 
this statutory directive, SSA created eCBSV, a fee-based SSN 
verification service. eCBSV allows PEs to submit, after receipt of the 
number holder's consent,\3\ the SSN, name, and date of birth of the 
number holder to SSA for verification via an application programming 
interface. Each PE must submit a statement that the PE is in compliance 
with the Banking Bill \4\ in the comment section of their application 
to SSA.
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    \1\ 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).
    \2\ 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).
    \3\ Valid, signed consent must include a wet or electronic 
signature. Electronic signatures must meet the definition in section 
106 of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act 
(15 U.S.C. 7006) and SSA requirements. 42 U.S.C. 405b(f)(2). The 
written consent must clearly specify to whom the information may be 
disclosed, the information you want us to disclose (i.e., SSN 
verification) and, where applicable, during which timeframe the 
information may be disclosed (i.e., within either the time specified 
on the Written Consent, or within 90 calendar days from the date the 
SSN holder signs the Written Consent). See 20 CFR 401.100(b).
    \4\ 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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Enrollment

    SSA successfully implemented the eCBSV expanded rollout in FY 2021 
to the remaining PEs that had previously submitted a valid application 
but were not selected as part of the limited initial rollout. eCBSV 
expanded rollout participation remains markedly lower than estimated by 
the financial industry and will result in increased fees to recover 
program costs incurred, as required by the Banking Bill.
    To encourage increased program participation, SSA will open eCBSV 
enrollment in February 2022, to interested PEs, as defined in section 
215 of the Banking Bill. The enrollment period to register for this 
service will open on February 21, 2022, at 6:00 a.m. EST, and will 
remain open indefinitely. After a thorough analysis, we determined that 
establishing an open-ended enrollment satisfies the requirements of the 
Banking Bill, helps increase program participation and transaction 
volumes, and aids in recovering costs. Additionally, opening the 
program to interested PEs starting February 21, 2022, provides new PEs 
with the flexibility to enroll at current subscription rates before the 
fee increase takes effect on April 25, 2022.
    PEs who wish to enroll, must:

 Complete the technical registration requirements
 use the eCBSV ``Permitted Entity Registration'' screen to 
provide company information
 electronically sign an EIN Consent
 receive their OAuth Client ID from SSA
 configure requesting application to access the eCBSV Customer 
Connection and provide contact information
 review, agree, and electronically sign the Permitted Entity 
Certification
 review, agree, initial to all terms and conditions, and 
electronically sign the user agreement
 purchase the tier subscription based on expected transaction 
volume

Fees

    The public cost burden is dependent upon the number of PEs using 
the service and the annual transaction volume. To date, 11 PEs enrolled 
out of 123 applications received to participate in eCBSV. We based the 
revised tier fee schedule below on 45 participating PEs in FY 2022 
submitting an anticipated volume of 280,000,000 transactions. The total 
cost for developing the service is $50,000,000 through FY 2021, and SSA 
will recover the cost over a three-year period, assuming projected 
enrollments and transaction volumes meet our projections.

                         eCBSV Tier Fee Schedule
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              Tier               Annual volume threshold    Annual fee
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1..............................  Up to 1,000 (1-1,000)..            $400
2..............................  Up to 10,000 (1,001-              3,500
                                  10,000).
3..............................  Up to 200,000 (10,001-           40,000
                                  200,000).
4..............................  Up to 1 million                 315,000
                                  (200,001-1 million).
5..............................  Up to 20 million              1,500,000
                                  (1,000,001-20 million).
6..............................  Up to 50 million              4,000,000
                                  (20,000,001-50
                                  million).
7..............................  Over 50 million               7,500,000
                                  (50,000,001 and over).
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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 
April 25, 2022. Fees are calculated based on forecasted systems and 
operational expenses, agency oversight, overhead, and Certified Public 
Accountant (CPA) audit contract costs. Effective April 25, 2022, SSA 
will no longer charge a separate administrative fee in addition to the 
tier-based subscription fee.

[[Page 2477]]

    Section 215(h)(1)(A) of the Banking Bill requires that the 
Commissioner shall ``periodically adjust'' the price paid by users. 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, and via notice in the Federal Register. At that 
time, PEs can cancel the agreement or renew service according to the 
new tier fee schedule.

Michelle King,
Deputy Commissioner, for Budget, Finance, and Management.
[FR Doc. 2022-00638 Filed 1-13-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P