Analysis to Support Electronic Funds Transfer and Remittance Mandate

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
BUREAU OF THE FISCAL SERVICE
WASHINGTON, DC 20227

Questions for Focus Groups – Individuals
Moderator script to be said at beginning of session:
Thank you for making time today to help us learn how you make payments to the US government
and its agencies, such as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, US Citizenship and
Immigration Services, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Your input is
extremely valuable and will be used to help the US Treasury Department figure out how changes in
the types of accepted payment methods might affect individuals such as yourself. We are going to
ask you questions about how you make payments and what costs or burdens there are when you
use those methods. We would like this to be an open discussion. If you think of any information
that is related, but we do not ask a question about it, please feel free to share anyway. We are here
to hear more about you and any troubles you might face using different payment methods.

Questions

Notes for moderator

1. Other than when you pay taxes, do you ever pay
the federal government for anything? How often?

If no, please skip question 3.

2. Do you have any of the following:

Please allow respondant the opportunity
to discuss more subjective matters
relating to theses financial instruments
(i.e. desire to obtain bank account or
cards in future, main hindrances to
obtaining bank account or cards, history
with these instruments).

a.
b.
c.
d.

Bank account
Debit card
Credit card
Prepaid card

3. When you make a payment to the government, do
you pay with cash, with a money order, or some
other way?

Please prompt the respondent to go into
detail about the steps he/she needed to
take to obtain a prepaid card.

a. Does it cost you anything to pay by cash or
money order (for example, do you have to
pay to get a money order)?
b. If you could not use cash, money order, or
a check to make a payment, how would
you pay and why? Does it cost you to use
these methods?
c. Have you ever paid the government using
a prepaid card? What worked well and
what didn’t when you used this method?
4. Have you ever used any of the following to make a
payment (not just a payment to the government,
but to anyone)?

If the respondant selects option a (wire
transfer) or b (prepaid debit card),
please have him/her elaborate on the

a. Wire transfer (for example, Western
Union, Money Gram, or PayNear Me)
b. Prepaid debit card
c. Text message payment with a cell phone
d. Other payment methods with a cell phone
e. Other methods?
If you have used any of these payment methods, why
did you choose to pay this way and were there any
costs or inconveniences for you (for example, cost to
purchase a prepaid debit card or wire transfer, cost of
travel to a store that offers wire transfer services, etc.)?

5. Do you have access to the internet?
If so, what is the primary way you access the
internet? Please choose only one.
a. Have internet access in my home or at a
relative or friend’s home
b. Have internet access at work
c. Have internet access from a smartphone
d. Have internet access in my community
(public library, café, etc.)

travel time associated with these
options. If the respondant selects
options c or d (related to cell phone),
please ask respondent if he/she is
comfortable showing you the type of
application used, so you can get a better
understanding of the mechanisms.

If the respondant selects option c
(smartphone), please prompt the
respondant to elaborate on what kind of
access to data the respondant has and
how much that costs.

If not, how much money and how much time
would you have to spend to get access to the
internet?
6. Have you ever made a payment using the
internet?
If yes, how did you do that and what types of
costs were there for making that payment?

Please prompt respondant to share
general thoughts on making internet
payments (i.e. security, reliability, etc.).

If no, have you ever wanted to make a
payment over the internet? Why couldn’t you?
7. Please tell me about the steps you take when you
need to submit a form or documentation along
with a payment.
What costs, burdens, or other obstacles do you
face when submitting documentation? For
example:
a.
b.
c.
d.

Please try to collect details about travel
required (i.e. to a library, post office,
etc.), mode of transportation, and travel
time associated with the trips.

Photocopying charges
Purchase of an envelope
Postage
Other

If you could use the internet to submit the
documentation, are there any costs or difficulties you
would face in doing so?

8. If the government announced that it would no
longer accept paper payments (including cash,

If the respondant has a difficult time
brainstorming ways he/she could access
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checks, and money orders), how would that affect
you?
If you had to, how would you make an electronic
payment (such as using debit or credit cards,
electronic transfers from a bank account, etc.)?
What electronic methods would work best for you
and why?
What costs or obstacles, other than those
discussed previously, would you incur in using
these electronic methods?

electronic payment methods, please
prompt him/her with known methods
used by other unbanked individuals (i.e.
prepaid debit card used at internet
café). However, give him/her sufficient
time to craft his/her own answer. Do not
lead the answer too heavily.
If the respondant is considering
increasing his/her level of financial
inclusion of internet access, try to guage
what scenario would push the
respondant to do so.

Thank you very much for your time and input.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement of Burden
According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The time required to participate in this
information collection is estimated to average 90 minutes. Your response is voluntary. Comments concerning the
accuracy of the time estimate and suggestions for reducing this burden should be directed to the U.S. Department
of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Washington DC 20227.

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