[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 39 (Tuesday, February 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12679-12680]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04070]


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FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION

[OMB No. 3064-0215]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection 
Renewal; Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The FDIC, as part of its obligations under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, invites the general public and other Federal 
agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the request to renew 
the existing information collection (OMB Control No. 3064-0215) for its 
eighth biennial survey of households, which has been renamed the FDIC 
National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households (Household 
Survey). This survey was previously named the Survey of Household Use 
of Banking and Financial Services. The Household Survey is scheduled to 
be conducted in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau as a supplement 
to its June 2023 Current Population Survey (CPS). The survey collects 
information on U.S. households' use of bank accounts, prepaid cards, 
nonbank online payment services and nonbank financial transaction 
services, and bank and nonbank credit. The results of these biennial 
surveys will be published by the FDIC, and help inform policymakers, 
bankers, and researchers about bank account ownership and how 
households use the banking system and nonbank products and services to 
meet their financial needs. On November 14, 2022, the FDIC requested 
comment for 60 days on the proposed information collection. No comments 
were received. The FDIC hereby gives notice of its plan to submit to 
OMB a request to approve this information collection, and again invites 
comment on the information collection.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before March 30, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments to 
the FDIC by any of the following methods:
     Agency Website: https://www.fdic.gov/resources/regulations/federal-register-publications/.
     Email: [email protected]. Include the name and number of 
the collection in the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Manny Cabeza (202-898-3767), Regulatory Counsel, MB-
3128, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street NW, 
Washington, DC 20429.
     Hand Delivery: Comments may be hand-delivered to the guard 
station at the rear of the 17th Street NW building (located on F Street 
NW), on business days between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information 
collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Manny Cabeza, Regulatory Counsel, 202-
898-3767, [email protected], MB-3128, Federal Deposit Insurance 
Corporation, 550 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20429.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Proposal to renew the following currently 
approved collection of information:
    Title: FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households.
    OMB Number: 3064-0215.
    Frequency of Response: Once.
    Affected Public: Individuals residing in U.S. Households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 40,000.
    Average time per Response: 9 minutes (0.15 hours) per respondent.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 6,000 hours.

General Description of Collection

    The FDIC is committed to expanding Americans' access to safe, 
secure, and affordable banking services, which is integral to the 
FDIC's mission of maintaining the stability of and public confidence in 
the U.S. financial system. The FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and 
Underbanked Households (Household Survey) is one contribution to this 
end. The Household Survey is also a key component of the FDIC's efforts 
to comply with a Congressional mandate contained in section 7 of the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Conforming Amendments Act of 2005 
(Reform Act) (Pub. L. 109-173), which calls for the FDIC to conduct 
ongoing surveys ``on efforts by insured depository institutions to 
bring those individuals and families who have rarely, if ever, held a 
checking account, a savings account or other type of transaction or 
check cashing account at an insured depository institution (hereafter 
in this section referred to as the `unbanked') into the conventional 
finance system.'' Section 7 further instructs the FDIC to consider 
several factors in its conduct of the surveys, including: (1) ``what 
cultural, language and identification issues as well as transaction 
costs appear to most prevent `unbanked' individuals from establishing 
conventional accounts;'' and (2) ``what is a fair estimate of the size 
and worth of the ``unbanked'' market in the United States.''
    The Household Survey collects information on bank account ownership 
which provides a factual basis for measuring the number and percentage 
of households that are unbanked. The Household Survey is the only 
population-representative survey conducted at the national level that 
provides state-level estimates of the size and characteristics of 
unbanked households for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The 
Household Survey also collects information from unbanked households 
about the reasons that they do not have a bank account and their 
interest in having a bank account.
    Increasingly, financial products and services are provided by 
nonbanks, many through the use of a mobile phone app. Households are 
selecting different combinations of bank and nonbank financial products 
and services to meet their core banking needs. Consequently, the 
Household Survey has broadened its focus to include a wide range of 
bank and nonbank financial products and services and to collect 
information on whether and how households are using these in 
combination.
    To obtain this information, the FDIC partners with the U.S. Census 
Bureau, which administers the Household Survey supplement (FDIC 
Supplement) to households that participate in the CPS. The FDIC 
supplement has been

[[Page 12680]]

administered every other year since January 2009. The previous survey 
questionnaires and survey results can be accessed through the following 
link: http://fdic.gov/analysis/household-survey.
    In accordance with the statutory mandate to conduct the surveys on 
an ongoing basis, the FDIC already has in place arrangements for 
conducting the eighth Household Survey as a supplement to the June 2023 
CPS. Prior to finalizing the 2023 survey questionnaire, the FDIC seeks 
to solicit public comment on whether changes to the existing instrument 
are desirable and, if so, to what extent. It should be noted that, as a 
supplement of the CPS survey, the Household Survey needs to adhere to 
specific parameters that include limits in the length and sensitivity 
of the questions that can be asked of CPS respondents. Interested 
members of the public may obtain a copy of the proposed survey 
questionnaire on the following web page: https://www.fdic.gov/resources/regulations/federal-register-publications/2023/2023-fdic-household-survey-instrument.pdf.

Request for Comment

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of information 
is necessary for the proper performance of the FDIC's functions, 
including whether the information has practical utility; (b) the 
accuracy of the estimates of the burden of the 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; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology. All 
comments will become a matter of public record.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

    Dated at Washington, DC, on February 23, 2023.
James P. Sheesley,
Assistant Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-04070 Filed 2-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6714-01-P