Form FR 3064b FR 3064b Payment Card Network Survey

FR 3064b
OMB No. 7100-0344
Approval expires Jan 31, 2023

PAYMENT CARD NETWORK SURVEY

Survey Period:
Calendar Year 2021

1

General Instructions
About this Survey
Section 235.8 of the Federal Reserve Board’s Regulation II requires payment card networks to file reports
with the Board. This survey serves as this report. This survey solicits information from calendar year 2021
regarding (1) volumes and values of debit card transactions (including general-use prepaid card
transactions) processed by the network; (2) interchange fees paid by acquirers and received by issuers; (3)
network f ees paid by acquirers and issuers; and (4) incentives paid to acquirers, merchants, and issuers.
For purposes of this survey, three-party systems are not included. If your organization has multiple
payment card networks, complete a separate survey for each network. If a payment card network processes
both single-message and dual-message transactions, it should provide responses f or each type of
transaction on that network.
Your Participation
To achieve the most reliable results, it is important that you respond completely and accurately. Please
leave no survey item blank.
There are three possible ways to answer a survey question:
Enter a Value: The actual numeric value of the data element.
Enter a Zero: When the calculated value equals zero. Please do not enter a non-numeric value,
e.g. “NA” or “NR,” when the value equals zero.
Enter “NR” (Not Reported): If your institution engages in the activity of the type being measured
but you are unable to report a figure that reflects that activity. Please do not enter “NA.”
If for any reason you cannot provide complete data or you have questions, please contact (866) 3596619 or e-mail [email protected] for assistance.
Please complete the survey by May 1, 2022.
Response Confidentiality and Burden
The Board will use the inf ormation collected in this survey to calculate and publish a list of the average
interchange f ees, average transaction values, and proportion of transactions f or exempt and non-exempt
issuers f or each network (see 12 CFR 235.5 f or a description of exempt issuers), noting whether the network
is a single-message or dual-message network. The Board will not publish other network-specific
inf ormation, such as transaction volumes and values or the number of merchant establishments
participating on the network; the Board regards this individual organization inf ormation as confidential (5
U.S.C. § 552(b)(4)). However, the Board may use this inf ormation to publish aggregate or summary
inf ormation that does not reveal any confidential information about each individual organization. If it should
be determined subsequently that any additional individual organization inf ormation collected on this form
must be released, the respondents will be notified.
Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to be 75 hours per response, including
the time to gather data in the required f orm and to review instructions and complete the inf ormation
collection. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of
inf ormation, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to Secretary, Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System, 20th and C Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20551, or via e-mail to
[email protected]; and to the Of f ice of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project
(7100-0344), Washington, D.C. 20503. The Federal Reserve may not conduct or sponsor, and an
organization (or a person) is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
2

Section I:

Respondent Information

1. Name of network covered in this response

2. Contact person(s) by subsection of the survey for which responsible
Name

Email

Subsection

Phone

Name

Email

Subsection

Phone

Name

Email

Subsection

Phone

Name

Email

Subsection

Phone

3. Does your payment card network process both
single-message transactions and dualmessage transactions?

[ ] Yes

[ ] No

If yes, complete a survey for each type of transaction.
Additional log-in information will be required. Please
email [email protected] for
assistance.

4. What type of transactions are reported in this
response?

[ ] Single-message [ ] Dual-message

3

Section II: Debit Card Transactions
(including general-use prepaid card transactions)
Please enter totals only for transactions related to debit cards linked to U.S.-domiciled accounts involving
a merchant located in the United States during the calendar year (CY) 2021.
Include:

All debit card transactions (including general-use prepaid card transactions).
Both consumer and business card transactions.

Do Not Include: ATM or credit card transactions.

1. CY 2021 debit card transactions

Volume

Value ($)

Volume

Value ($)

1a. Settled purchase transactions (excluding preauthorizations, denials, adjustments, returns, and
cash back amounts)

Card-present vs. card-not-present transactions
1b. Allocate “1a. Settled purchase transactions”
between the f ollowing categories:

1a:

1a:

1b.1 + 1b.2 = 1a

1b.1 Card-present transactions
1b.2 Card-not-present transactions

CY 2021 chargebacks and returns

Volume

1c. Total chargebacks

Report all chargebacks sent in CY 2021 regardless of the
date the original purchase transaction took place.

1d. Total returns

Report all returns sent in CY 2021 regardless of the date
the original purchase transaction took place.

4

Value ($)

Small issuer exemption:
Transactions using cards of exempt vs. nonexempt issuers
1e. Allocate “1a. Settled purchase transactions”
between the f ollowing categories:

Volume
1a:

Value ($)
1a:

1e.1 + 1e.2 = 1a

1e.1 Settled purchase transactions made with a
debit card issued by exempt issuers
1e.2 Settled purchase transactions made with a
debit card issued by non-exempt issuers
(include all transactions by non-exempt
issuers, even though some transactions might
be exempt)
General-use prepaid card transactions vs. all
other debit card transactions
1f. Allocate “1a. Settled purchase transactions”
between the f ollowing categories:
1f.1 + 1f.2 = 1a

1f.1 General-use prepaid card transactions
1f.2 All other debit card transactions

5

Volume
1a:

Value ($)
1a:

General-use prepaid card exemption:
Exempt vs. non-exempt general-use prepaid
card transactions
1g. Allocate “1f.1 General-use prepaid card
transactions” between the following categories:

Volume
1f .1:

Value ($)
1f .1:

1g.1 + 1g.2 = 1f.1

1g.1 General-use prepaid card
transactions exempt f rom the interchange
f ee standard (include all general-use prepaid
card transactions by exempt issuers and
exempt transactions by non-exempt issuers)
1g.1.1 + 1g.1.2 = 1g.1

1g.1.1 General-use prepaid card
transactions by exempt issuers
1g.1.2 General-use prepaid card exempt
transactions by non-exempt
issuers
1g.2 General-use prepaid card transactions not
exempt f rom the interchange fee standard
(only include non-exempt transactions by nonexempt issuers)
2. CY 2021 interchange fees

Dollars ($)

2a. Interchange fees paid by acquirers and
received by issuers (gross interchange fees)
2a.1 Interchange f ees reimbursed to acquirers as a
result of chargebacks
Report all chargebacks sent in CY 2021 regardless
of the date the original purchase transaction took
place.

2a.2 Interchange f ees reimbursed to acquirers as a
result of returns
Report all returns sent in CY 2021 regardless of
the date the original purchase transaction took
place.

6

Card-present vs. card-not-present interchange
fees
2b. Allocate “2a. Interchange fees paid by
acquirers and received by issuers” between
the f ollowing categories:

Dollars ($)
2a:

2b.1 + 2b.2 = 2a

2b.1 Interchange f ees on card-present
transactions
2b.2 Interchange f ees on card-not-present
transactions
Small issuer exemption:
Interchange fees on transactions using cards
of exempt vs. non-exempt issuers
2c. Allocate “2a. Interchange fees paid by
acquirers and received by issuers” between
the f ollowing categories:
2c.1 + 2c.2 = 2a

2c.1 Interchange f ees paid to exempt issuers
2c.2 Interchange f ees paid to non-exempt
issuers (include all interchange fees paid to
non-exempt issuers, even though some
interchange fees might come from exempt
transactions)

7

Dollars ($)
2a:

General-use prepaid card transactions vs. all
other debit card transactions
2d. Allocate “2a. Interchange fees paid by
acquirers and received by issuers” between
the f ollowing categories:

Dollars ($)
2a:

2d.1 + 2d.2 = 2a

2d.1 Interchange f ees on general-use prepaid
card transactions
2d.2 Interchange f ees on all other debit card
transactions
General-use prepaid card exemption:
Interchange fees on exempt vs. non-exempt
card transactions
2e. Allocate “2d.1 Interchange fees on generaluse prepaid card transactions” between the
f ollowing categories:
2e.1 + 2e.2 = 2d.1

2e.1 Interchange f ees on exempt general-use
prepaid card transactions (include
interchange fees paid to exempt issuers for all
general-use prepaid card transactions and
paid to non-exempt issuers for exempt
general-use prepaid card transactions)
2e.1.1 + 2e.1.2 = 2e.1

2e.1.1 Interchange fees paid to exempt
issuers for all general-use prepaid
card transactions
2e.1.2 Interchange fees paid to nonexempt issuers for exempt
general-use prepaid card transactions
2e.2 Interchange f ees on non-exempt generaluse prepaid card transactions (only
include interchange fees paid to non-exempt
issuers for non-exempt transactions)

8

Dollars ($)
2d.1:

3. CY 2021 network fees

Dollars ($)

3a. Network fees received from acquirers and
issuers

Network fees received from acquirers vs.
issuers
3b. Allocate “3a. Network fees received from
acquirers and issuers” between the following
categories:

Dollars ($)
3a:

3b.1 + 3b.2 = 3a

3b.1 Network f ees received from acquirers
3b.2 Network f ees received from issuers
Small issuer exemption:
Network fees received from exempt vs. nonexempt issuers
3c. Allocate “3b.2. Network fees received from
issuers” between the following categories:
3c.1 + 3c.2 = 3b.2

3c.1 Network f ees received from exempt issuers
3c.2 Network f ees received from non-exempt
issuers (include network fees paid by nonexempt issuers, even though some
transactions might be exempt)

9

Dollars ($)
3b.2:

4. CY 2021 payments and incentives paid by
network to acquirers, merchants, and issuers

Dollars ($)

4a. Payments and incentives paid by network
to acquirers, merchants, and issuers
4b. Allocate “4a. Payments and incentives paid
by network to acquirers, merchants, and
issuers” between the following categories:

4a:

4b.1 + 4b.2 = 4a

4b.1

Payments and incentives paid to
acquirers and merchants

4b.2

Payments and incentives paid to issuers

Small issuer exemption:
Payments and incentives paid to exempt vs.
non-exempt issuers
4c. Allocate “4b.2 Payments and incentives paid to
issuers” between the following categories:
4c.1 + 4c.2 = 4b.2

4c.1 Payments and incentives paid to exempt
issuers
4c.2 Payments and incentives paid to nonexempt issuers (include payments and
incentives paid to non-exempt issuers, even
though some transactions might be exempt)

10

Dollars ($)
4b.2:

Glossary of Terms
Acquirer: A person that contracts directly or indirectly with a merchant to provide settlement for the
merchant’s electronic debit transactions over a payment card network. An acquirer does not include a
person that acts only as a processor for the services it provides to the merchant.
Card-not-present transaction: Settled purchase transaction where the purchaser does not physically
present the card to the merchant, such as an Internet, telephone, or mail order transaction.
Card-present transaction: Settled purchase transaction where the purchaser physically presents the
card to the merchant.
Chargeback: Transaction initiated by the issuer that reverses a purchase transactions, in whole or in
part (due, f or example, to customer disputes, f raud, processing errors, authorization issues, or nonf ulf illment of copy requests), and transfers value from the acquirer to the issuer.
Debit card: Any card or other payment code or device, issued or approved for use through a payment
card network to debit an account, regardless of the means of authorization, and regardless of whether
the issuer holds the account. A debit card includes any general-use prepaid card. It does not include
(1) any card or other payment code or device that is redeemable upon presentation at only a single
merchant, or an affiliated group of merchants for goods or services, or (2) a check draft or similar paper
instrument, or an electronic representation thereof.
Debit card transaction: Use of a debit card (including a general-use prepaid card) by a person as a
f orm of payment in the United States to initiate a debit to an account. Debit card transactions include
charitable contributions, payments made to satisfy an obligation (e.g., tax liability), or payments made
f or other purposes, such as to f und another account. It does not include credit card transactions or
transactions initiated at an ATM.
Dual-message transaction: Transaction type by which authorization inf ormation is carried in one
message and clearing inf ormation is carried in a separate message as originated f rom the acquirer.
Traditionally, these transactions have been authenticated with a signature.
Exempt general-use prepaid card transaction: Transaction made using a general-use prepaid
card that is exempt f rom the interchange f ee standard in Regulation II, specifically (1) a transaction
made using a general-use prepaid card that has been provided to a person pursuant to a federal, state,
or local government-administered payment program through which the cardholder may use the debit
card only to transfer or debit funds, monetary value, or other assets that have been provided pursuant
to such program; (2) a transaction made using a general-use prepaid card that is (i) not issued or
approved for use to access or debit any account held by or for the benefit of the cardholder (other than
a subaccount or other method of recording or tracking f unds purchased or loaded on the card on a
prepaid basis), (ii) reloadable and not marketed or labeled as a gift card or gift certificate, and (iii) the
only means of access to the underlying f unds, except when all remaining f unds are provided to the
cardholder in a single transaction.
Exempt issuer: An issuer is exempt from the interchange f ee standards for CY 2021 if that issuer has
total worldwide banking and nonbanking assets, including assets of af filiates, other than trust assets
under management, that are less than $10 billion, as of December 31, 2020.
Non-exempt card transaction: Transaction made using a card issued by a non-exempt issuer,
excluding any transaction made with a general-use prepaid card if the card is exempt f rom the
interchange fee standard in Regulation II. A card transaction’s non-exempt status does not depend on
the amount of the interchange fee charged on the transaction
11

General-use prepaid card: A card or other payment code or device that is (1) issued on a prepaid
basis in a specified amount, whether or not that amount may be increased or reloaded, in exchange for
payment and (2) redeemable upon presentation at multiple unaffiliated merchants for goods or services.
Interchange fees paid by acquirers and received by issuers: Any fee established, charged,
or received by a payment card network and paid by a merchant or an acquirer f or the purpose of
compensating an issuer for its involvement in the debit card transaction.
Issuer: Any person that authorizes the use of a debit card to perform an electronic debit transaction.
Network fees received from acquirers and issuers: Total switch fees and other f ees charged
by card networks, including both f ixed fees and per-transaction f ees. Exclude fees f or optional services
related to transaction processing that may be provided by a card network or an af f iliate of a card
network. If fees are shared with other card programs or activities, allocate the f ees based on the
number of transactions. For example, if your institution collects a single f ee f or debit and credit card
operations, allocate those f ees to debit card operations based on the proportion of debit card
transactions to total debit and credit card transactions.
Number of merchant establishments: For a specific payment card network, the number of
locations at which merchants accept payments on that network in the United States. For chains, report
each location of the chain separately. For example, if a chain has 25 locations then report 25
establishments f or that chain. If a location has 10 separate check-out lines with PIN terminals, report
that as one location.
Payments and incentives paid by network to acquirers, merchants, and issuers:
Payments made by the payment card network to acquirers, merchants, and issuers with respect to
debit card transactions or debit-card-related activity. Acquirer, merchant, and issuer incentives may be
based on reaching specified volume levels, marketing activities that promote the network’s brand,
converting the issuer’s debit card base to a different signature network, or other activities. Exclude
payments that a network pays an issuer for traditional banking services the issuer provides the network
(e.g., transaction account services to the network).
Return: Transaction initiated by the acquirer that reverses a purchase transaction in whole or in part
(due, f or example, to the return of goods by the cardholder), and transfers value f rom the acquirer to
the issuer.
Settled purchase transaction: A debit card transaction that has been settled. Exclude transactions
that are pre-authorizations, denials, adjustments, returns. Exclude cash back value but not
transactions.
Single-message transaction: Transaction type by which authorization and clearing inf ormation is
carried in one message as originated from the acquirer. Typically, these transactions are authenticated
with a PIN.
Three-party systems: Systems where debit transactions are processed by an entity that acts as
system operator and issuer, and may also act as the acquirer. This entity that receives information from
the merchant or acquirer also holds the cardholder’s f unds. Theref ore, rather than directing the
transaction information to a separate issuer, this entity authorizes and settles the transaction itself. As
these entities do not connect (or “network”) multiple issuers and do not route information to conduct the
transaction, they are not “payment card networks” with respect to these transactions.
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.

12

Frequently Asked Questions
Q: I forgot my log-in credentials and cannot access the survey. What should I do?
A: Contact us at [email protected] referencing the PCN survey and we will be glad to assist you.
Q: Who needs to fill out the Payment Card Network (PCN) survey?
A: Any payment card network in the United States.
Q: What is the deadline to fill out the survey?
A: You are required to fill out the survey by May 1, 2022.
Q: Can I request an exception or an extension?
A: No, the rule (12 CFR § 235.8) unf ortunately does not provide for exceptions or extensions.
Q: When filling out the survey, what time period should I consider to answer the questions
correctly?
A: The survey covers calendar year 2021, from 1/1/2021 to 12/31/2021.
Q: My network processes both single-message and dual-message transactions. Should I provide
responses for each type?
A: Yes, you are required to provide responses for each type of transaction processed on your network.
Q: What counts as a debit card?
A: Any card or other payment code or device, issued or approved for use through a payment card network
to debit an account, regardless of the means of authorization, and regardless of whether the issuer holds
the account. A debit card includes any general-use prepaid card. It does not include (1) any card or other
payment code or device that is redeemable upon presentation at only a single merchant, or an af f iliated
group of merchants for goods or services, or (2) a check draft or similar paper instrument, or an electronic
representation thereof.
Q: What counts as a debit card transaction?
A: A debit card transaction is the use of a debit card (including a general-use prepaid card) by a person as
a f orm of payment in the United States to initiate a debit to an account. It does not include transactions
initiated at an ATM.
If your question could not be answered through these FAQs, please contact us at
[email protected] or at (866) 359 – 6619 referencing the PCN survey and we will be glad
to assist you.

13