[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 75 (Wednesday, April 17, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27472-27473]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08152]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No. SSA 2024-0008]


Notice of Subscription Tier Structure Change for Our Electronic 
Consent Based Social Security Number Verification Service

AGENCY: Social Security Administration.

ACTION: Notice of subscription tier structure change.

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SUMMARY: The Social Security Administration (SSA) is announcing a 
revision in the upper transactions limit to the upper subscription tier 
for the electronic Consent Based Social Security Number (SSN) 
Verification (eCBSV) service. In accordance with statutory 
requirements, a permitted entity (PE) is required to provide payment to 
reimburse SSA for the development and support of the eCBSV system.

DATES: Applicability date for subscription tier structure change: The 
revised subscription tier structure will go into effect for 
subscription payments made on or after April 22, 2024.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 215 of the Economic Growth, 
Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act \1\ (the Banking Bill) 
directed SSA to modify or develop a database for accepting and 
comparing fraud protection data \2\ provided electronically by a PE.\3\ 
In response to this statutory directive, SSA created eCBSV, a fee-based 
SSN verification service. eCBSV allows PEs to submit, based on the 
number holder's consent,\4\ the SSN,

[[Page 27473]]

name, and date of birth of the number holder in connection with a 
credit transaction or a circumstance described in section 604 of the 
Fair Credit Reporting Act to SSA for verification via an application 
programming interface. Each PE must submit a certification statement 
\5\ that the PE is in compliance with the Banking Bill as part of their 
application to SSA.
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    \1\ Public Law 115-174, codified at 42 U.S.C. 405b.
    \2\ 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).
    \3\ 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). 
They must possess an Employer Identification Number and a Dun and 
Bradstreet number.
    \4\ Under the eCBSV User Agreement, valid Written Consent must 
meet the requirements of applicable Federal law, SSA's regulations, 
and section IV of the eCBSV User Agreement. Valid Written consent 
must include a wet or electronic signature. Section IV A.1. eCBSV 
User Agreement. Electronic signatures must meet the definition in 
section 106 of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National 
Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. 7006). 42 U.S.C. 405b(f)(2); section IV. E. 
eCBSV User Agreement. The written consent must clearly specify to 
whom the information may be disclosed, the information you want us 
to disclose (e.g., SSN verification) and, where applicable, during 
which timeframe the information may be disclosed (e.g., whenever the 
subject individual is receiving specific services). 20 CFR 401.100.
    \5\ 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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    SSA revised the subscription tier structure for eCBSV in 2023.\6\ 
Based on feedback from PEs, we are increasing the upper limit on Tier 
10 transactions from 75 million to 200 million transactions. All fees 
and other subscription tiers remain unchanged.
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    \6\ 88 FR 29959 (May 9, 2023).
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Fees

    The public cost burden is dependent upon the number of PEs using 
the service and the annual transaction volume. We based the revised 
tier fee schedule below on 20 participating PEs in fiscal year (FY) 
2024 submitting an anticipated volume of 52 million transactions. The 
total cost for developing and operating the service is $62 million 
through FY 2023. Of this amount, $37 million remains unrecovered/
unreimbursed. The subscription tier structure and associated fees are 
intended to recover these costs over a four-year period, assuming 
projected enrollments and transaction volumes meet these projections.

                         eCBSV Tier Fee Schedule
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              Tier               Annual volume threshold    Annual fee
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1..............................  Up to 10,000 (1-10,000)          $7,000
2..............................  Up to 200,000 (10,001-          130,000
                                  200,000).
3..............................  Up to 1 million                 630,000
                                  (200,001-1 million).
4..............................  Up to 2.5 million             1,500,000
                                  (1,000,001-2.5
                                  million).
5..............................  Up to 5 million               3,000,000
                                  (2,500,001-5 million).
6..............................  Up to 10 million              4,500,000
                                  (5,000,001-10 million).
7..............................  Up to 15 million              5,000,000
                                  (10,000,001-15
                                  million).
8..............................  Up to 20 million              6,250,000
                                  (15,000,001-20
                                  million).
9..............................  Up to 25 million              7,250,000
                                  (20,000,001-25
                                  million).
10.............................  Up to 200 million             8,250,000
                                  (25,000,001-200
                                  million).
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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 22, 2024.
    Fees are calculated based on forecasted systems and operational 
expenses, agency oversight, overhead, and Certified Public Accountant 
audit contract costs.
    Section 215(h)(1)(B) of the Banking Bill, 42 U.S.C. 405b(h), 
requires that the Commissioner shall ``periodically adjust'' the price 
paid by users to ensure that amounts collected are sufficient to fully 
offset the costs of administering the eCBSV system. 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, when a PE begins a new 365-day agreement period, and via 
notice in the Federal Register. PE renewals will be governed by the 
tier in effect at the time of renewal.
    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 https://www.socialsecurity.gov.

Chad Poist,
Deputy Commissioner, Office of Budget, Finance, and Management, Social 
Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2024-08152 Filed 4-16-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P