[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 232 (Wednesday, December 3, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71767-71768]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28432]
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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
Agency Information Collection Activities: Announcement of Board
Approval Under Delegated Authority and Submission to OMB
AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the final approval of proposed
information collections by the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System (Board) under OMB delegated authority, as per 5 CFR
1320.16 (OMB Regulations on Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the
Public). Board-approved collections of information are incorporated
into the official OMB inventory of currently approved collections of
information. Copies of the Paperwork Reduction Act Submission,
supporting statements and approved collection of information
instrument(s) are placed into OMB's public docket files. The Federal
Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required
to respond to, an information collection that has been extended,
revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays
a currently valid OMB control number.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Federal Reserve Board Acting Clearance
Officer--John Schmidt--Office of the Chief Data Officer, Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551, (202)
452-3829. Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) users may
contact (202) 263-4869, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, Washington, DC 20551.
OMB Desk Officer--Shagufta Ahmed--Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive
Office Building, Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503.
Final approval under OMB delegated authority the extension for
three years of the following information collection, with revision:
Report title: Government-administered, General-use Prepaid Card
Surveys.\1\
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\1\ The issuer and government surveys, supporting statement, and
other documentation are available on the Board's public Web site at:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/review.aspx.
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Agency form number: FR 3063a and FR 3063b.
OMB control number: 7100-0343.
Frequency: Annual.
Reporters: Issuers of government-administered, general-use prepaid
cards (FR 3063a) and governments that administer general-use prepaid
card programs (FR 3063b).
Estimated annual reporting hours: FR 3063a: 375 hours; FR 3063b:
2,700 hours.
Estimated average hours per response: FR 3063a: 25 hours; FR 3063b:
15 hours.
Number of respondents: FR 3063a: 15; FR 3063b: 180.
General description of report: This information collection is
authorized by subsection 920(a) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act
(EFTA), which was amended by section 1075(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act. 15
U.S.C. 1693o-2. EFTA Section 920(a) requires the Board to submit an
annual report to the Congress on the prevalence of use of general-use
prepaid cards in Federal, state, and local government-administered
payment programs and on the interchange transaction fees and cardholder
fees charged with respect to the use of such prepaid cards. 15 U.S.C.
1693o-2(a)(7)(D). EFTA Section 920(a) also provides the Board with
authority to require issuers to provide information to enable the Board
to carry out the provisions of the subsection. 15 U.S.C. 1693o-
2(a)(3)(B). The obligation of issuers to respond to the issuer survey
(FR 3063a) is mandatory. However, the obligation of state and local
governments to respond to the government survey (FR 3063b) is
voluntary. A limited amount of information collected on the FR 3063a
issuer survey is publicly available, and thus, is not accorded
confidential treatment. However, most of the information collected on
the FR 3063a issuer survey is not publicly available and may be kept
confidential as explained herein. Data collected by the issuer survey
may be kept confidential under exemption (b)(4) of the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA), which exempts from disclosure ``trade secrets
and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and
privileged or confidential.'' 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4). Such data may be kept
confidential under exemption 4 if the release of data would cause
substantial harm to the competitive position of the issuer. For
example, certain issuer survey responses would likely contain
information related to an organization's revenue structure and other
proprietary and commercial information and the release of such
information would cause substantial harm to the competitive position of
the issuer and could therefore be kept confidential under exemption 4.
The information collected on the government survey (FR 3063b) is not
accorded confidential treatment.
Abstract: Section 1075(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act provides that the
Board shall provide annually a report to the Congress regarding the
prevalence of use of general-use prepaid cards in federal, state, and
local government-administered payment programs, and the interchange and
cardholder fees charged with respect to the use of such prepaid
cards.\2\ Section 1075(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act also provides the Board
with authority to require card issuers to respond to information
requests as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of the
section.
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\2\ 15 U.S.C. 1693o-2(a)(7)(D).
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Current Actions: On September 19, 2014, the Federal Reserve
published a notice in the Federal Register (79 FR 56368) requesting
public comment for 60 days on the extension, with revision, of the
Government-Administered, General-Use Prepaid Card Surveys. The comment
period for this notice expired on November 18, 2014. The Federal
Reserve did not receive any comments. The revisions will be implemented
as proposed.
As noted in the initial Federal Register notice (IFR) the Federal
Reserve requested specific comment regarding the potential impact of
eliminating the government survey (FR 3063b). The Federal Reserve noted
in the IFR that the data collected under FR 3063b are used to calculate
and report prevalence-of-use metrics, including the ratio of funds
disbursed by prepaid cards to funds disbursed by all payment methods.
Also, as noted in the IFR, should the Federal Reserve decide to
eliminate FR 3063b, it would no longer be able to report this ratio;
rather, the Federal Reserve would rely on data from the issuer survey
(FR 3063a) to calculate and report alternative prevalence-of-use
metrics, including the value of funds loaded onto government-
administered
[[Page 71768]]
prepaid cards, the volume and value of settled purchase transactions,
and the volume and value of ATM withdrawals.
As discussed in the IFR, the Federal Reserve believes that
eliminating FR 3063b would significantly reduce reporting burden on the
public. For this reason, and because the Federal Reserve did not
receive any comments on the potential impact of eliminating FR 3063b,
the Federal Reserve plans not to conduct this survey in calendar year
2015. Nevertheless, the Federal Reserve will maintain the authority to
conduct FR 3063b through the 2015-2018 data-collection cycle. During
this period, the Federal Reserve will determine whether the alternative
prevalence-of-use metrics derived from FR 3063a are reasonable for
satisfying the reporting requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act. Should the
Federal Reserve make this determination, a notice would be published in
the Federal Register requesting public comment on the discontinuance of
the FR 3063b information collection for future data-collection cycles.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, November 28,
2014.
Margaret McCloskey Shanks,
Deputy Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2014-28432 Filed 12-2-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P