Request for Approval

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of
Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 1530-0023)
TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Treasury Retail Program Review Customer
Experience Qualitative Research
PURPOSE: The purpose of this project is to explore customer needs and wants around the
customer experience, including how customers prefer to initiate and receive support services.
This will include exploring a range of experiences from providing complete customer service, to
customer self-sufficiency, or a range of customer service interactions tailored to particular
products.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: This research will be conducted with three types of
respondents: 1) TreasuryDirect Customers with a mix of those who have purchased and own
savings bonds and Treasury securities - any age group. 2) Savings bond current owners who
have never used TreasuryDirect - any age group. 3) People who do not currently own any
savings bonds or other Treasury securities – age 21 to 40. And 4) People who do not currently
own any savings bonds or other Treasury securities – age 41 to 70.
TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)
[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form
[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software
[X] Focus Group

[ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey
[ ] Small Discussion Group
[ ] Other:
____

CERTIFICATION:
I certify the following to be true:
1. The collection is voluntary.
2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.
3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal
agencies.
4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.
5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential
policy decisions.
6. 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.
Digitally signed by Bruce A. Sharp

Date: 2015.11.04 14:52:59 -05'00'
Name:________________________________________________
Bruce A. Sharp

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:
Personally Identifiable Information:
1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No
2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the
Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No
3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No
Gifts or Payments:

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Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to
participants? [X] Yes [ ] No
Bulletin board participants will receive approximately $75 upon conclusion. This incentive
was chosen to encourage respondent participation through the duration of 4 bulletin board
sessions. The incentive rate is based on prevailing rates for the type of participation and
duration where the industry norm is $100 to $125.

BURDEN HOURS
Category of Respondent
Bulletin-Board Online Discussion (Focus) Groups

Totals

No. of
Respondents
15 per group
for 4 groups
= 60
60

Participation
Time
2 hrs

Burden

2 hrs average

120 hrs

120 hrs

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is not known at this
time.
If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please
provide answers to the following questions:
The selection of your targeted respondents
1. 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
If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? 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 screening protocol will be used for all participants. For those participants who are
TreasuryDirect customers, Fiscal Service will mail out an email or letter to a random selection
of TreasuryDirect customers asking them to voluntarily participate in qualitative research. They
will be further screened according to the screening protocol. For those who are not current
TreasuryDirect customers, the screening protocol is designed to recruit participants who own
savings bonds (for group 2) or those who do not use TreasuryDirect and are not owners of
savings bonds nor other Treasury securities but are involved in making financial decisions, and
who represent a cross-section of the population in terms of gender, race/ethnicity, age, income,
education, and employment status for Groups 3 and 4. See attached Screener.

Administration of the Instrument
1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)
[X] Web-based or other forms of Social Media
[X] Telephone
[ ] In-person

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[ ] Mail
[ ] Other, Explain
2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [X] Yes [ ] No
Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the
request.

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Instructions for completing Request for Approval under the “Generic
Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback”
TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the
subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)
PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used.
If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.
DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Provide a brief description of the targeted group or
groups for this collection of information. These groups must have experience with the program.
TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other
instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.
CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the
collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.
Personally Identifiable Information: Provide answers to the questions. Note: Agencies
should only collect PII to the extent necessary, and they should only retain PII for the period of
time that is necessary to achieve a specific objective.
Gifts or Payments: If you answer yes to the question, please describe the incentive and provide
a justification for the amount.
BURDEN HOURS:
Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the
following categories: (1) Individuals or Households;(2) Private Sector; (3) State, local, or tribal
governments; or (4) Federal Government. Only one type of respondent can be selected per row.
No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of respondents.
Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time required for a respondent to
participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)
Burden: Provide the Annual burden hours: Multiply the Number of responses and the
participation time and divide by 60.
FEDERAL COST: Provide an estimate of the annual cost to the Federal government.
If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please
provide answers to the following questions:
The selection of your targeted respondents. Please provide a description of how you plan to
identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them. If the answer is yes,
to the first question, you may provide the sampling plan in an attachment.
Administration of the Instrument: Identify how the information will be collected. More than
one box may be checked. Indicate whether there will be interviewers (e.g. for surveys) or
facilitators (e.g., for focus groups) used.
Submit all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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