IC Submission

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of
Qualitative Feedback on the Service Delivery of the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau” (OMB Control Number: 3170-0024)
1. TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:
Consumer Response Consumer Research to Support a Unified Submission Intake Form
2.

PURPOSE: The Office of Consumer Response within the CFPB maintains over 14 consumer
gateways, which has led to significant consumer experience, data quality and operational
issues. Consumer Response seeks to evaluate three of these gateways – Tell Your Story,
phone and paper – which together represent 40% of our submission volume to determine the
best long-term service strategy for each. To inform this initiative, consumer research is
imperative. We are seeking to conduct phone interviews of consumers who have previously
submitted either a Tell Your Story or a complaint by paper or phone. Insights gained from the
interviews will directly allow Consumer Response to design more responsive, engaging and
helpful consumer services.

3.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Participants are consumers who have recently
submitted either a Tell Your Story or a complaint by paper or phone. A set of consumers will
be randomly pulled from the secure CRM system based on chronological order.

4. TYPE OF COLLECTION (ADMINISTRATION OF THE INSTRUMENT):
a.

How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media
[ ] In-person
[ ] Small Discussion Group
[ ] Other, Explain ______________________

[X] Telephone
[ ] Mail
[ ] Focus Group

b. Will interviewers or facilitators be used?
[X ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Not Applicable

5. FOCUS GROUP OR SURVEY:
If you plan to conduct a focus group or survey, please provide answers to the following
questions:
a. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential
respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe?
[X ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Not Applicable
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b. If the answer is yes, please provide a description below. If the answer is no, please
provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and
how you will select them?
A list of 100 consumers who have submitted a Tell Your Story, a complaint by phone or a
complaint by paper, respectively, will be taken from the secure CFPB CRM system. For each of
these, Consumer Response has already segmented consumers by type of submission (e.g. Tell
Your Story submissions tend to be either a comment or about a financial issue). The proportion
of respondents will be stratified according to these preset segments. This is to ensure that we get
a diversity of respondents which match our existing services.
After ensuring we get a representative sample, consumers will be selected by the chronological
date of when their complaint or Tell Your Story was closed.
In the first wave, we anticipate interviewing 9 consumers about Tell Your Story and an additional
9 for the phone and paper channel (a total of 27). Depending on the insights we achieve in the
first wave, the CFPB may conduct a second wave to get additional voices. In total, an additional
10-11 consumers may be interviewed (for a grand total of 60, or 20 potential interviews per
gateway).

6. PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION:
a. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No
b. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to
the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No [X] Not Applicable
If applicable, what is the link to the Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)?

c. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice (SORN) been published?
[ ] Yes [ ] No [ X] Not Applicable
If yes, cite the SORN.
Title:__N/A______________________________
___ FR _______________.

7. INCENTIVES:
a. Is an incentive provided to participants? [ ] Yes [X] No
b. If Yes, provide the amount or value of the incentive? $___N/A_____.
c. If Yes, provide a statement justifying the use and amount of the incentive. N/A

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8. BURDEN ESTIMATES:
Information Collection

Number of
Respondents

Tell Your Story
Phone
Paper
Totals

Frequency
(Responses
per
Respondent)

20
1
20
1
20
1
60 //////////////////////

Number of
Annual
Responses

Response
Time
(hours)

Burden
Hours

20
.25
20
.25
20
.25
60 ////////////////////////////

9. FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is

5
5
5
15

$0

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10. CERTIFICATIONS:
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO 5 CFR 1320.9, AND THE RELATED PROVISIONS
OF 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3) :
By submitting this document, the Bureau certifies the following to be true:
(a) It is necessary for the proper performance of agency functions;
(b) It avoids unnecessary duplication;
(c) It uses plain, coherent, and unambiguous terminology that is understandable to
respondents;
(d) Its implementation will be consistent and compatible with current reporting and
recordkeeping practices;
(e) It indicates the retention period for recordkeeping requirements;
(f) It informs respondents of the information called for under 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3):
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
(g) It was developed by an office that has planned and allocated resources for the efficient and
effective management and use of the information to be collected;
(h) It uses effective and efficient statistical survey methodology; and
(i) It makes appropriate use of information technology.

CERTIFICATION FOR INFORMATION COLLECTIONS SUBMITTED UNDER A
GENERIC INFORMATION COLLECTION PLAN
By submitting this document, the Bureau certifies the following to be true:
 The collection is voluntary.
 The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.
 The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal
agencies.
 The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.
 Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential
policy decisions.
 The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have
experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.
 The data collection is not statistically significant, the sample is not intended to be
representative, and the results will not be used to make inferences beyond the survey
sample.
 The results will not be used to measure regulatory compliance or for program
evaluation.

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