FR3063_20210630_omb

Supporting Statement for the
Government-Administered, General-Use Prepaid Card Survey
(FR 3063; OMB No. 7100-0343)
Summary
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), under authority
delegated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has extended for three years, with
revision, the Government-Administered, General-Use Prepaid Card Survey for Issuers
(FR 3063a) and discontinued the Government-Administered, General-Use Prepaid Card Survey
for State and Local Governments (FR 3063b) (both under OMB No. 7100-0343). The FR 3063a
collects data from issuers of government-administered, general-use prepaid cards including
information on the pre-paid card program, the number of cards outstanding, card funding, ATM
transactions, purchase transactions, fees paid by issuers to third parties, interchange fees, and
cardholder fees. The FR 3063a is mandatory. The FR 3063b, which is being discontinued, was
designed to collect data from state governments, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories
(collectively state governments), and municipal government offices located within the United
States (local government offices) that administer general-use prepaid card payment programs.1 It
was intended that the FR 3063b survey would collect similar information from state governments
and local government offices to supplement the information collected from card issuers in the
FR 3063a survey on the usage of general-use prepaid cards in federal, state or local governmentadministered payment programs. However, the FR 3063b was voluntary and the Board has not
issued this survey to state governments or local government offices in the past three years
because relevant information on the use of prepaid cards was obtained from the FR 3063a
survey.
The Board uses data from the FR 3063a survey to support an annual report to Congress
on the prevalence of use of general-use prepaid cards in federal, state, and local governmentadministered payment programs and on the interchange and cardholder fees charged with respect
to such use of such cards.
The Board revised and streamlined the FR 3063a reporting structure to reduce burden on
respondents by deleting various questions, which are no longer necessary to support the Board’s
annual report. The Board believes that the revised structure will reduce reporting burden without
compromising the value of the data collected. The revisions to the FR 3063a will be effective for
the data collection administered during the first half of 2022 for calendar year 2021 data. In
addition, the Board discontinued the FR 3063b.
The current estimated total annual burden for the FR 3063a and FR 3063b is 1,500 hours,
and would decrease to 150 hours. The revisions would result in decrease of 1,350 hours. The
form and instructions are available on the Board’s public website at
https://www.federalreserve.gov/debitcardsurveys.
1

The government survey may be distributed to federal government agencies in addition to state and local
governments and U.S. territories, but collections of information from federal government agencies are not subject to
the Paperwork Reduction Act and, thus, are not included in this discussion. U.S. territories include American
Samoa, Guam, Midway Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands.

Background and Justification
Section 1075(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
(Dodd-Frank Act) requires that the Board provide annually a report to the Congress regarding the
prevalence of the use of general-use prepaid cards in federal, state, and local governmentadministered 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. Pursuant to this authority, the Board adopted regulations
setting debit card interchange fee standards and reporting requirements in Debit Card
Interchange Fees and Routing (Regulation II) (12 CFR Part 235). The FR 3063a survey is used
to collect information from card issuers on the usage of general-use prepaid cards in federal,
state, or local government-administered payment programs, and the interchange fees and
cardholder fees charged with respect to the use of such general-use prepaid cards. The
information collected on the FR 3063a survey is not available from other sources. The Board
annually evaluates the data collected in an effort to further improve efficiency and reduce
respondent burden.
Description of Information Collection
Issuer Survey (FR 3063a)
The FR 3063a is required for all entities that are considered “issuers” under
Regulation II.3 The FR 3063a requests information on general-use prepaid cards (associated with
accounts domiciled in the United States, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories) issu ed
under programs administered by a federal, state, or local government agency, except for the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Regulation II requires each issuer to
submit information about debit card (including general-use prepaid card) transactions in a form
prescribed by the Board.4 The FR 3063a is mandatory for depository institutions that issue
general-use prepaid cards for federal, state, or local government-administered payment
programs.
The current survey collects information on government-administered payment programs
for which the depository institution is the issuer of general-use prepaid cards. The cards issued
pursuant to government-administered payment programs may be either reloadable or nonreloadable.
The current FR 3063a comprises eight sections:
I.
Program Information: Respondents report information on card programs
covered in their response including the number of programs, the name of the
programs, and the name of the sponsoring government agencies.
II.
Card Funding: Respondents report information on the number of cards
outstanding and the value of funds loaded into prepaid card accounts.
2

15 U.S.C. § 1693o-2(a)(7)(D).
12 CFR 235.8(a).
4
12 CFR 235.8(b).
3

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III.

Cash Withdrawals: Respondents report information on ATM and over-thecounter (OTC) at-bank cash withdrawals.
IV.
Purchase Transactions: Respondents report information on the volume and
value of settled purchase transactions.
V.
Fees Paid by Issuers: Respondents report the value of fees paid by issuers to
third parties for cash withdrawals.
VI.
Issuer Revenue: Interchange Fees: Respondents report information on
interchange fee revenue received on settled purchase transactions.
VII. Issuer Revenue: Cardholder Fees: Respondents report information on fees
assessed to cardholders, including purchase transaction fees, ATM fees, OTC
fees, account servicing fees, routine monthly fees, customer service inquiry fees,
overdraft fees, penalty fees, and all other cardholder fees.
VIII. Issue Revenue: Other: Respondents report information on revenue received
from sources not covered in other sections of the survey.
Government Survey (FR 3063b)
The FR 3063b is voluntary for state governments and local government offices that use
prepaid cards to disburse funds to payment recipients. This survey was originally designed to
collect information about the prevalence of use of general-use prepaid cards in federal, state, and
local government-administered payment programs. The format of the government survey
comprises three sections:
I.
Government-Administered, General-Use Prepaid Card Program
Information: Respondents report information on the government-administered
payment programs covered in the response, sponsoring government agencies, the
jurisdiction of the agencies, geographic areas in which prepaid cards have been
issued, card issuing banks, the type of payment programs, the number of
recipients receiving payments (by any payment method), and the number of
recipients receiving payments by prepaid cards.
II.
Number of Cards: Respondents report information on the number of cards
outstanding at year-end.
III.
Funds Disbursed to Payment Recipients: Respondents report information on
the value of funds loaded into prepaid card accounts and the value of all funds
paid by other payment methods.
Respondent Panel
The FR 3063a panel comprises depository institutions in the United States that administer
general-use prepaid cards, and, if utilized, the FR 3063b panel would have comprised state and
local government offices in the United States that administer general-use prepaid cards.5
Revisions to the FR 3063a
The Board revised the FR 3063a to streamline the survey and reduce burden on
5

FR 3063b Survey Glossary of terms - United States: The states, territories, and possessions of the U.S., the District
of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any political subdivision of any of the foregoing.

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respondents by deleting questions, which are no longer necessary to support the Board’s annual
report. The Board believes that the revisions will reduce reporting burden without compromising
the value of the data collected. The revisions to the FR 3063a will be effective for the collection
during the first half of 2022 of calendar year 2021 data. A section-by-section description of the
revisions is provided below.
Section I: Program Information
The Board deleted questions 2 and 3. Question 2 requests the allocation of the total
number of government-administered payment program(s) in scope into eleven categories (Social
Security, Supplemental Security Income, Veterans, Unemployment, Child Support, Temporary
Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Section 8 Housing, Payroll, Tax Refunds,
Prison/Corrections, and Other Government Program Types). Question 3 requests the name of
each program in scope and the name of sponsoring government agency administering the
program.
Section II: Card Funding
The Board deleted questions 4 through 7. Question 4 requests the allocation of the net
funds loaded by the categories of the government-administered payment program listed by
Question 2. Question 5 requests the amount of funds outstanding on all government-administered
payment general use prepaid cards as of December 31 st. Question 6 requests the average daily
value of funds outstanding during the year. Question 7 is a comment section for Questions 5 and
6.
Section III: Cash Withdrawals
The Board deleted section III, which captures cash withdrawals from ATMs and Overthe-counter withdrawals from a bank (teller).
Section IV: Purchase Transactions
Section IV is renumbered as Section III. The Board deleted question 2. Question 2
requests the allocation of all settled purchase transactions by volume and value. It also requests
the volume and value of settled purchase transactions both exempt and non-exempt from the
interchange fee standards.
Section V: Fees Paid by Issuers
The Board deleted section V, which collects data on fees paid by issuers.
Section VI: Issuer Revenue: Interchange Fees
Section VI is renumbered as Section IV. The Board deleted question 2. Question 2
requests the allocation of all total interchange fee revenue by interchange fee revenue received
on settled purchase transactions both exempt and non-exempt from the interchange fee standards.

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Section VII: Issuer Revenue: Cardholder Fees
Section VII is renumbered to Section V. The Board deleted question 2. Question 2
requests the allocation of cardholder fees by total revenue and number of times fees were
assessed for nine fee categories (Purchase transaction, ATM, OTC (teller) cash withdrawal,
Account servicing, Routine monthly, Customer service inquiry, Overdraft, Penalty, and Others).
For each category, the number of programs subject to government-imposed restrictions, as well
as a description of government-imposed restrictions on fees is also requested.
Section VIII: Issuer Revenue: Other
The Board deleted section VIII, which captures issuer revenue from other sources.
Revisions to the FR 3063b
The Board discontinued the FR 3063b survey. The Board has not issued this survey to
state governments or local government entities in the past three years, as the information
provided by card issuers in responding to the FR 3063a survey has been sufficient and also
includes data on state programs.
Time Schedule for Information Collection
The Board is required to provide an annual report to the Congress on governmentadministered, general use prepaid cards. The Board sends out FR 3063a survey to issuers by
mid-February of each year, and requests that the surveys be submitted to the Board within 60
calendar days.
Public Availability of Data
The Board includes aggregate FR 3063a survey data in an annual Report to the Congress
on Government-Administered, General-Use Prepaid Cards, which is also posted on the Board’s
public website, https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/government-prepaid-executive.htm.
Legal Status
The FR 3063a is authorized by subsection 920(a)(7) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act
(15 U.S.C. § 1693o-2(a)(7)), which was added by section 1075(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act. This
subsection requires the Board to submit an annual report to Congress on the prevalence of the
use of general-use prepaid cards in federal, state, or local government-administered payment
programs and the interchange transaction fees and card-holder fees charged with respect to the
use of such general-use prepaid cards (15 U.S.C. § 1693o-2(a)(7)(D)). It 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)).6 The obligation of issuers to
Section 235.8(a) and (b) of the Board’s Regulation II (12 CFR 235.8(a) and (b)), implements this reporting
requirement and requires the submission of information about debit card transactions (including general-use prepaid
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respond to the FR 3063a is mandatory.
The Board generally regards the information collected from each individual issuer on the
FR 3063a survey as confidential commercial and financial information, which may be protected
by exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4)). The Board, however,
may publicly release aggregate or summary information in a way that does not reveal the
individual issuer.
Consultation Outside the Agency
There has been no consultation outside the Federal Reserve System.
Public Comments
On November 19, 2020, the Board published an initial notice in the Federal Register
(85 FR 73708) requesting public comment for 60 days on the extension, with revision, of the
FR 3063. The comment period for this notice expired on January 19, 2021. The Board did not
receive any comments. The Board adopted the extension, with revision, of the FR 3063 as
originally proposed. On March 8, 2021, the Board published a final notice in the Federal
Register (86 FR 13379).
Estimate of Respondent Burden
As shown in the table below, the estimated total annual burden for the FR 3063 is 1,500
hours, and would decrease to 150 hours with the revisions. The Board estimates that
approximately 15 depository institutions would take, on average, 10 hours each to complete the
revised FR 3063a. The revisions to the FR 3063a would result in a net decrease of 75 data items,
resulting in a net decrease of 225 hours. These reporting requirements represent less than 1
percent of the Board’s total paperwork burden.

card transactions) by issuers in a form prescribed by the Board. This reporting requirement has been carried out in
the form of three surveys collected by the Board. In addition to the FR 3063a survey, the Debit Card Issuer Survey
(FR 3064a) and Payment Card Network Survey (FR 3064b) (OMB No. 7100-0344) collect information on the
volume and value of debit card transactions (including general-use prepaid card transactions), associated interchange
fees, payments, and incentives paid by networks to issuers from: (1) issuers of debit cards (including issuers of
general-use prepaid cards) that, together with affiliates, have assets of $10 billion or more (the FR 3064a survey)
and (2) payment card networks (the FR 3064b survey). However, the FR 3064a and FR 3064b surveys are separately
reviewed and accounted for under the Paperwork Reduction Act.

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Estimated
Estimated
Estimated
Annual
number of
average hours annual burden
frequency
respondents7
per response
hours

FR 3063
Current
FR 3063a
FR 3063b

15
75

1
1

25
15

375
1,125
1,500

15

1

10

150

Current Total
Proposed
FR 3063a
Change

(1,350)

The estimated total annual cost to the public for the FR 3063 is $88,725, and would
decrease to $8,873 with the revisions.8
Sensitive Questions
This collection of information contains no questions of a sensitive nature, as defined by
OMB guidelines.
Estimate of Cost to the Federal Reserve System
The estimated cost to the Federal Reserve System for collecting and processing this
information collection is $103,000.9

7

Of these respondents, one respondent is considered a small entity as defined by the Small Business Administration
(i.e., entities with less than $600 million in total assets), https://www.sba.gov/document/support--table-sizestandards.
8
Total cost to the public was estimated using the following formula: percent of staff time, multiplied by annual
burden hours, multiplied by hourly rates (30% Office & Administrative Support at $20, 45% Financial Managers at
$73, 15% Lawyers at $72, and 10% Chief Executives at $95). Hourly rates for each occupational group are the
(rounded) mean hourly wages from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), Occupational Employment and Wages
May 2020, published March 31, 2021, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm. Occupations are defined
using the BLS Standard Occupational Classification System, https://www.bls.gov/soc/.
9
Total cost to the Federal Reserve System was estimated using the following formula: (estimated staff time of 1 ,000
hours, multiplied by average hourly rate of $50) plus estimated information technology costs of $53,000.

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