[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 6, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19924-19926]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07220]


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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 3066a and FR 3066b; OMB No. 
7100-0351).

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before June 6, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by FR 3066, by any of 
the following methods:
     Agency Website: https://www.federalreserve.gov/. Follow 
the instructions for submitting comments at https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx.
     Email: [email protected]. Include the OMB 
number or FR 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 from the Board's website at 
https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/foia/proposedregs.aspx as 
submitted, unless modified for technical reasons or to remove 
personally identifiable information at the commenter's request. 
Accordingly, comments will not be edited to remove any confidential 
business information, identifying information, or contact information. 
Public comments may also be viewed electronically or in paper in Room 
M-4365A, 2001 C St. NW, Washington, DC 20551, 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 for the Federal 
Reserve Board, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of 
Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 725 
17th Street NW,

[[Page 19925]]

Washington, DC 20503, or by fax to (202) 395-6974.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 15, 1984, OMB delegated to the Board 
authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) to approve and assign 
OMB control numbers to collections of information 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.
    During the comment period for this proposal, a copy of the proposed 
PRA OMB submission, including the draft reporting form and 
instructions, supporting statement, and other documentation, will be 
made available on the Board's public website at https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/review.aspx or may be requested 
from the agency clearance officer, whose name appears above. Final 
versions of these documents will be made available at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, if approved.

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;
    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 numbers: FR 3066a and FR 3066b.
    OMB control number: 7100-0351.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondents: Depository institutions, general-purpose credit card 
networks, private-label credit card merchant issuers, private-label 
credit card processors, general-purpose debit card networks, general-
purpose prepaid card networks, automated teller machine card networks, 
general-purpose prepaid card processors, electronic benefits transfer 
card processors, private-label prepaid card issuers and processors, P2P 
and money transfer processors, online bill payment processors, walk-in 
bill payment processors, private-label ACH debit card processors, toll 
collection processors, online payment authentication methods 
processors, mobile wallet processors; and transit system operators.
    Estimated number of respondents: FR 3066a, 513; FR 3066b, 133.
    Estimated average hours per response: FR 3066a, 22; FR 3066b, 8.
    Estimated annual burden hours: FR 3066a, 11,286; FR 3066b, 1,064.
    General description of report: The Federal Reserve Payments Study 
(FRPS) collects information from organizations with a significant role 
in processing payments, including depository and financial 
institutions, general-purpose payment networks, third-party payment 
processors, issuers of private-label payment instruments, and providers 
of various alternative payment methods and systems and help to support 
the Federal Reserve System's (Federal Reserve's) role in the payments 
system. The FR 3066a and FR 3066b consist of a full set of surveys 
every three years and smaller versions of the surveys (fewer surveys, 
questions, or respondents) in each year between. The FRPS publishes 
aggregate estimates of noncash payment volumes, cash deposits and 
withdrawals, and related information derived from the surveys.
    Proposed revisions: The Board proposes to revise the FRPS by 
structuring it as a partially ad hoc collection to improve its ability 
to collect relevant information in response to changing conditions in 
payments markets by streamlining the ability to add, remove, or modify 
survey items and respondents based on the Federal Reserve's information 
needs. Under the proposed revisions, the FRPS would contain the same 
core substantive questions asked on prior FRPS surveys, which would 
generally remain consistent from year to year. However, questions could 
be added, modified, or removed from year to year based on the Federal 
Reserve's information needs.
    Legal authorization and confidentiality: The Board uses the 
information obtained through the FR 3066a and FR 3066b to discharge its 
statutory responsibilities, including those under the following 
statutes: Section 609 of the Expedited Funds Availability Act; \1\ 
Sections 904 and 920 of the Electronic Fund Transfers Act; \2\ Section 
15 of the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act; \3\ and Sections 2A, 
11, 11A, 13, and 16 of the Federal Reserve Act.\4\
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    \1\ 12 U.S.C. 4008(c) (authorizing the Board to prescribe such 
regulations as it may determine appropriate to carry out its 
responsibility to regulate the payment system).
    \2\ 15 U.S.C. 1693b, 1693o-2 (authorizing the Board to prescribe 
regulations relating to interchange fees for electronic debit 
transactions and require any debit card issuer or payment card 
network to provide the Board with such information as may be 
necessary to carry out its responsibility to regulate interchange 
fees for electronic debit transactions).
    \3\ 12 U.S.C. 5014 (authorizing the Board to prescribe such 
regulations as it determines necessary to implement, prevent 
circumvention or evasion of, or facilitate compliance with the 
Expedited Funds Availability Act, as amended).
    \4\ 12 U.S.C. 225a, 248, 248a, 342, 360, and 248-1 (inter alia, 
requiring the Board to maintain long run growth of the monetary and 
credit aggregates commensurate with the economy's long run potential 
to increase production, so as to promote effectively the goals of 
maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest 
rates).
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    The FR 3066a and FR 3066b are voluntary. The information contained 
in responses to the core questions of the FR 3066a and FR 3066b is 
nonpublic commercial or financial information, which is both 
customarily and actually treated as private by the respondent. The 
Board therefore may keep such information confidential pursuant to 
exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).\5\ Supplemental 
questions asked on each survey may vary, and the Board's ability to 
keep confidential responses to such questions must therefore be 
determined on a case-by-case basis. Responses to supplemental questions 
may contain nonpublic commercial information that may be kept 
confidential by the Board pursuant to exemption 4 of the FOIA. Some 
such responses may also contain information contained in or related to

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an examination of a financial institution, which may be kept 
confidential under exemption 8 of the FOIA.\6\
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    \5\ 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4).
    \6\ 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(8).
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    Consultation outside the agency: As part of the routine execution 
of the surveys, the Federal Reserve's 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, April 1, 2022.
Margaret Shanks,
Deputy Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2022-07220 Filed 4-5-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P