[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 103 (Tuesday, May 30, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34475-34479]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11386]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Assessment of Mobile 
Technologies for Using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 
Benefits

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment 
on this proposed information collection. This is a new collection for 
the contract Assessment of Mobile Technologies for Using Supplemental 
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Benefits (Mobile Payment Pilot 
evaluation). The purpose of the Mobile Payment Pilot evaluation is to 
assess the effects of five pilot projects that will allow SNAP 
participants to use mobile payments to purchase food as an alternate 
option to a physical electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before July 31, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: Maya Sandalow, Food and Nutrition 
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th 
floor, Alexandria, VA 22314. Comments may also be submitted via email 
to [email protected]. Comments will also be accepted through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov, and 
follow the online instructions for submitting comments electronically.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for Office of Management and Budget approval. All comments will 
be a matter of public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of this information collection should be directed to Maya 
Sandalow at (703) 305-1615.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions that were 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 
those who are to respond, including use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
    Title: Assessment of Mobile Technologies for Using SNAP Benefits 
(Mobile Payment Pilot).
    Form Number: N/A.
    OMB Number: Not Yet Assigned.
    Expiration Date: Not Yet Determined.
    Type of Request: New Collection.
    Abstract: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 
provides monthly benefits to low-income households to reduce food 
insecurity and improve health and well-being. Benefits are delivered 
via electronic benefit transfer (EBT), which is accepted at more than 
250,000 authorized retailers nationwide. For nearly two decades, SNAP 
participants have used EBT in person at retailers, where they swipe 
their card at checkout using a point of sale (POS) terminal and enter 
their personal identification number (PIN) to pay for their purchases.
    The Agricultural Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) authorized the use of 
mobile payments from devices like cell phones, tablets, and smart 
watches, as an alternate option to a physical electronic benefit 
transfer (EBT) card to conduct a SNAP transaction. This authorization 
was subject to the result of five mobile payment pilot projects. Mobile 
payments may improve the customer experience; save participant and 
retailer time; reduce potential stigma of using EBT; reduce costs; and 
prevent benefit fraud, loss, or theft.
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service 
(FNS) selected five State SNAP agencies to participate in the Mobile 
Payment Pilot: Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, and 
Oklahoma. These State pilots include a variety of design implementation 
strategies in terms of payment model, retail partnerships, marketing 
plans, and pilot scale. The Mobile Payment Pilot Evaluation will assess 
the effects of the pilots, using information obtained from FNS, 
selected State SNAP agencies, retailers, and SNAP participants. The 
evaluation has four objectives: (1) assessing the implementation of the 
pilots, (2) examining the adoption and use of mobile technologies, (3) 
understanding implications for program integrity, and (4) assessing 
replicability and costs. In each of the five sites, the evaluation will 
conduct three rounds of semi-structured interviews with State SNAP 
agencies, EBT processors, retailers, and other partners. Interviews 
will occur during the pilot planning period and once the pilots are 
implemented, and will collect information about the pilot design and 
implementation.
    In each of the five sites, the evaluation will also conduct two, 5-
minute surveys and four focus groups among SNAP participants. One 
survey will be conducted among 250 participants who used mobile 
payments and the other will be conducted among 250 participants who did 
not use mobile payments. Similarly, two focus groups will be conducted 
with participants who used the technology and two others will be 
conducted with participants who did not use it.
    In addition, the evaluation will collect SNAP administrative data, 
cost data, and retailer transaction data from the FNS ALERT and STARS 
systems. These data will be used to describe the adoption of mobile 
payment technologies and benefit redemption patterns by participant, 
retailer, and community characteristics.
    Data collected from staff at State SNAP agencies, partners (such as 
EBT processors, mobile application vendors, and payment providers), and 
retailers will be used to describe how the pilots were planned and 
implemented. Data collected from SNAP participants will provide more 
information about their decisions to use or not use mobile payments, 
barriers to use, and participant satisfaction and user experience. 
Administrative, cost, and transaction data will provide insights on 
adoption and use of mobile payments. Ultimately, the findings will 
guide FNS in determining if expanding availability of mobile payments 
nationwide is cost-effective, secure, and accessible to participants.
    Affected Public: Respondent groups identified include: SNAP 
participants in the pilot areas; members of State SNAP agencies; 
retailers in the pilot areas; and mobile payment processers and other 
vendors.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The total estimated number of 
respondents is 21,246. The number of respondents includes: 20,330 SNAP 
participants (13% of whom will complete surveys or focus groups); 103 
State SNAP agency and other State agency staff; 210 staff from 
businesses supporting the Mobile Payment Pilots (such as mobile payment 
processors, mobile application providers, EBT hotlines, EBT processors, 
and/or token services providers); and 603 retailer staff offering 
mobile payments, including managers and other staff. The total 
estimated number of non-respondents is 11,190 and includes 10,934 SNAP 
participants (who will be contacted to

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complete surveys or focus groups), 252 staff from businesses, and 4 
State SNAP agency or other State agency staff.
    The evaluation team will pretest the survey and semi-structured 
interviews. The team will conduct pretest interviews with nine SNAP 
participants for the two survey instruments, three State SNAP agency 
staff members for the key informant interview guide, and three retailer 
staff members for the retailer interview guide.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: Across all 
respondents, the average number of responses is 7.91. Respondent groups 
include:
    (1) SNAP participants who did and did not use mobile payments,
    (2) State SNAP agency, other State agency, and business staff 
(including vendors who provide mobile application development, 
electronic benefit transfer processing, payment providers, and other 
services in support of mobile payments),
    (3) Retailer staff overseeing the provision of mobile payments for 
the pilot projects at a corporate level, or staff working in a retailer 
location offering mobile payments.
    SNAP participants in the pilot areas will be asked to participate 
in one survey or focus group (including participants who did or did not 
use mobile payments). SNAP participants will receive an advance letter 
to notify them about the survey, emails or text messages to assess 
their interest in participating in the survey, and a reminder letter to 
encourage them to complete the survey. Participants who choose to 
complete the survey will complete a five minute web or phone survey. 
SNAP participants in the pilot areas may also receive emails or text 
messages to ask if they would be interested in participating in a focus 
group. If they choose to participate in a focus group, the participant 
would receive a text message or phone call with several questions to 
ensure they are eligible to participate, followed by reminder emails or 
text messages to encourage them to attend the in-person focus group.
    State SNAP agency, other State agency, and business staff will 
respond to up to three in-person or telephone interviews. Staff from 
these entities will receive an email to invite them to participate in 
an interview, before participating in an interview lasting up to 60 
minutes. Selected State SNAP agency staff will provide administrative 
data one time and cost data on a quarterly basis 10 times.
    Retailer staff will respond to up to two in-person interviews. 
Retailer staff will receive a screening telephone call to invite the 
retail store to participate in interviews with staff. The screener will 
include several questions to help the evaluation team tailor interview 
protocols for the store in advance. Following the screener, the retail 
store manager or other applicable staff will receive an email to invite 
them to participate in an interview. Each interview with a retail staff 
member will last between 15 and 30 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 254,963 (168,077 respondents and 
86,886 nonrespondents).
    Estimated Time per Response: The estimated time of response varies 
from a few minutes to over an hour, depending on the respondent group, 
but averages 0.027 hours (or about 2 minutes) for all respondents as 
shown in the table below. State SNAP agency providing administrative 
and cost data will spend up to 8 hours per response.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 415,467 minutes 
(6,924 hours). See the table below for estimated total annual burden 
for each type of respondent.

Tameka Owens,
Assistant Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.

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                                                                                                               Responsive                                            Non-responsive                        Grand
                                                                                        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   total                 Total
                                                                                Sample                                                                                                                     annual    Hourly   annualized
             Type of respondents                        Instruments              size     Number of   Frequency    Total    Hours per   Annual    Number  of  Frequency    Total    Hours per   Annual     burden     wage      cost of
                                                                                         respondents      of       annual    response   burden       non-         of       annual    response   burden    estimate    rate    respondent
                                                                                                       response  responses              (hours)  respondents   response  responses              (hours)   (hours)                burden
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                                                                                                          Individuals/Household
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SNAP Participants...........................  Pretest: Client Experience             12            9          1          9     0.5000       4.5            3          1          3     0.0167       0.1        4.6     $7.25      $42.88
                                               Survey.
SNAP Participants...........................  Pretest: Survey of Non-Adopters        12            9          1          9     0.5000       4.5            3          1          3     0.0167       0.1        4.6      7.25       42.88
SNAP Participants...........................  Client Experience Survey:          12,500       10,000          1     10,000     0.0501     501.0        2,500          1      2,500     0.0501     125.3      626.3      7.25    5,902.41
                                               Advance Letter.
SNAP Participants...........................  Client Experience Survey: Email/   10,000        8,000          8     64,000     0.0167   1,068.8        2,000          8     16,000     0.0167     267.2    1,336.0      7.25   12,591.80
                                               Text.
SNAP Participants...........................  Client Experience Survey:           8,125        6,500          1      6,500     0.0501     325.7        1,625          1      1,625     0.0501      81.4      407.1      7.25    3,836.56
                                               Reminder Letter.
SNAP Participants...........................  Client Experience Survey.......    12,500        1,250          1      1,250     0.0835     104.4       11,250          1     11,250     0.0167     187.9      292.3      7.25    2,754.46
SNAP Participants...........................  Survey of Non-Adopters: Advance    12,500       10,000          1     10,000     0.0501     501.0        2,500          1      2,500     0.0501     125.3      626.3      7.25    5,902.41
                                               Letter.
SNAP Participants...........................  Survey of Non-Adopters: Email/     10,000        8,000          8     64,000     0.0167   1,068.8        2,000          8     16,000     0.0167     267.2    1,336.0      7.25   12,591.80
                                               Text.
SNAP Participants...........................  Survey of Non-Adopters:             8,125        6,500          1      6,500     0.0501     325.7        1,625          1      1,625     0.0501      81.4      407.1      7.25    3,836.56
                                               Reminder Letter.
SNAP Participants...........................  Survey of Non-Adopters.........    12,500        1,250          1      1,250     0.0900     112.5       11,250          1     11,250     0.0167     187.9      300.4      7.25    2,831.03
SNAP Participants...........................  Focus Group: Recruitment Email/     6,240          312          4      1,248     0.0167      20.8        5,928          4     23,712     0.0167     396.0      416.8      7.25    3,928.64
                                               Text.
SNAP Participants...........................  Focus Group: Screener..........       312          250          1        250     0.0501      12.5           62          1         62     0.0167       1.0       13.6      7.25      127.81
SNAP Participants...........................  Focus Group: Reminder emails/         250          200          2        400     0.0167       6.7           50          2        100     0.0167       1.7        8.4      7.25       78.70
                                               texts.
SNAP Participants...........................  Focus Group Discussion Guide...       200          200          1        200       1.50     300.0            0          1          0       0.00       0.0      300.0      7.25    2,827.50
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                                                                                 31,264       20,330       8.15    165,616      0.026     4,357       10,934       7.92     86,630      0.020     1,722      6,079  ........   57,295.45
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                                                                                                 Business (Profit, Non-Profit, or Farm)
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Retail Business Staff.......................  Pretest: Semi-structured                3            3          1          3       1.00       3.0            0          1          0     0.0167       0.0        3.0     59.31      231.31
                                               interview guide.
Vendor Staff................................  Business: Semi-structured             262          210          1        210     0.0167       3.5           52          1         52     0.0167       0.9        4.4     59.31      337.36
                                               interview invitation email.
Vendor Staff................................  Business: Semi-structured             210          210          1        210       1.00     210.0            0          1          0       0.00       0.0      210.0     59.31   16,191.63
                                               interview guide.
Retail Business Staff.......................  Retailer: Interview Screener...       800          600          1        600     0.0501       7.5           50          1         50     0.0167       0.8        8.4     22.15      961.75
Retail Business Staff.......................  Retailer: Semi-structured             600          600          1        600     0.0167       2.5            0          1          0       0.00       0.0        2.5     22.15      288.53
                                               interview invitation email.

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Retail Business Staff.......................  Retailer: Semi-structured             600          600          1        600       0.50     225.0            0          1          0       0.00       0.0      225.0     22.15    8,638.50
                                               interview guide.
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                                                                                  1,065          813       2.73      2,223      0.250       557          252       1.00        252      0.017     4.208        561  ........   26,649.07
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                                                                                                            State Government
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State Program Staff.........................  Pretest: Semi-structured                3            3          1          3       1.00       1.0            0          1          0     0.0167       0.0        1.0     59.31      231.31
                                               interview guide.
State Program Staff.........................  State agency: Semi-structured          94           90          1         90     0.0167         2            4          1          4     0.0167      0.07       1.57     59.31      121.04
                                               interview invitation email.
State Program Staff.........................  State agency: Semi-structured          90           90          1         90       1.00        90            0          1          0       0.00       0.0      90.00     59.31    6,939.27
                                               interview guide.
State Program Staff.........................  Provide Administrative Data....         5            5          1          5       8.00        40            0          1          0       0.00       0.0      40.00     59.31    3,084.12
State Program Staff.........................  Provide Cost Data..............         5            5         10         50       3.00       150            0          1          0       0.00       0.0     150.00     59.31   11,565.45
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                                                                                    107          103       2.31        238      1.195       285            4      1.000          4      0.017       0.1     284.57  ........   21,941.19
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    Total...................................  ...............................    32,436       21,246      7.911    168,077      0.031     5,198       11,190          8     86,886      0.020     1,727      6,924  ........  105,885.71
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[FR Doc. 2023-11386 Filed 5-26-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P