[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