FR3067_20200319_omb_B

Supporting Statement Part B for the
Payments Research Survey
(FR 3067; OMB No. 7100-0355)
Summary
For all information collections that involve surveys or require a statistical methodology,
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) is required to provide a complete
justification and explanation of the use of such a methodology. For collections that employ
surveys without such a methodology, the Board should be prepared to justify its decision not to
use statistical methods in any case where such methods might reduce burden or improve
accuracy of results.
Background
The Federal Reserve System has a long history of conducting surveys, including surveys
of depository institutions, financial and nonfinancial businesses and related entities, individual
consumers, and households. Often, the surveys have provided the only reliable source of data for
the subject covered by the surveys. Although these surveys have been driven by specific needs of
the Board, when published, their aggregated findings have also been used extensively by
researchers outside the Board and have been widely cited by the media.
Several functional areas of the Board have occasional need to gather data on a timely
basis from the public on their payment habits, economic condition, and financial relationships, as
well as their attitudes, perceptions, and expectations. The Board may have a particular need for
data during times of critical economic or regulatory change or when issues of immediate concern
arise from Federal Reserve System committee initiatives and working groups or requests from
the Congress. Completion of the full information collection approval process for a new survey
under such circumstances can pose a serious obstacle to collecting and processing data that are
both accurate and timely. Therefore, the Board proposes to continue the Payments Research
Survey to allow for the timely collection of ad hoc data in such situations without the delay
associated with the regular approval process.
The scope of the FR 3067 is intended to provide the Board the ability to respond
promptly to the need to collect data relating to its supervisory, regulatory, fiscal, and operational
responsibilities, as well as support payments research.
Universe and Respondent Selection
Respondents for surveys conducted under the FR 3067 may comprise depository
institutions, financial and nonfinancial businesses and related entities, individual consumers, or
households. In the past, a variety of sampling strategies have been employed, ranging from quota
sampling, convenience sampling, and in some cases probability sampling for some of the smaller
institutions in order to ensure the necessary response rates.

Procedures for Collecting Information
The survey topics are time sensitive and the questions of interest vary with the focus of
the survey. Because the relevant questions may change with each survey, there is no fixed
reporting form. For each survey, the Board, in consultation with any partners, prepares questions
of specific topical interest and then determines the relevant target group to contact.
The FR 3067 could take the form of interviewer-mediated, face-to-face, or telephone
interviews; self-administered interviews using paper questionnaires, the telephone, or the
Internet; focus group discussions; cognitive interviews; or other formal or less formal formats.
The size of the samples and the length of the data collection period would vary depending on the
particular informational needs.
Written qualitative questions or questionnaires may include categorical questions, yes-no
questions, ordinal questions, and open-ended questions. Written quantitative surveys may
include dollar amounts, percentages, numbers of items, interest rates, and other such information.
These data will only be collected if the request is time-sensitive or adequate data of this sort is
not available from any other source. These quantitative surveys enable the Board to collect a
limited amount of data from a defined set of depository institutions, financial and nonfinancial
businesses and related entities, individual consumers, and households in the event of an
immediate and critical need for specific information. These data are not collected on any other
reporting form or on the same frequency as other substantively similar data. Less formal
information collection studies, such as focus groups or cognitive interviews, may use a set of
structured qualitative and quantitative questions as a guide in a more extended discussion of the
questions and answers.
Methods to Maximize Response
Response rates can vary widely depending on the nature of each survey and the intended
respondent groups. In the past, we have experienced response rates between 5% and 50%, with
larger institutions being more likely to respond and smaller institutions and individuals being less
likely. While there are no standard methods being utilized to maximize the response rates for all
surveys, some may be employed on a case-by-case basis.
Testing of Procedures
There has been no pre-testing of procedures.

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