FR 3064b

DRAFT

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

PAYMENT CARD NETWORK SURVEY

Survey Period:
Calendar Year 2021

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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 fees 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 for 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 information collected in this survey to calculate and publish a list of the average
interchange fees, average transaction values, and proportion of transactions for exempt and non-exempt
issuers for each network (see 12 CFR 235.5 for 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
information, such as transaction volumes and values or the number of merchant establishments
participating on the network; the Board regards this individual organization information as confidential (5
U.S.C. § 552(b)(4)). However, the Board may use this information to publish aggregate or summary
information that does not reveal any confidential information about each individual organization. If it should
be determined subsequently that any additional individual organization information 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 form and to review instructions and complete the information
collection. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of
information, 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 Office 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.
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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

[ ] Single-message

[ ] Dual-message

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?

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Section II: Debit Card Transactions
(including general-use prepaid card transactions)
Please enter totals only for transactions related to debit cards, including general-use prepaid cards,
linked to U.S.-domiciled accounts involving a merchant located in the United States during the calendar year
(CY) 202120XX.
Important: In some cases, transactions may be processed by multiple networks due to the outsourcing of some or all
processing functions. Please note the special instructions below to ensure proper treatment of such transactions.
Include:

All debit card transactions (including general-use prepaid card transactions).
Both consumer and business card transactions.
Transactions for which your network establishes the interchange fee received by issuers, even if
your network outsources some or all processing functions for these transactions to one or more
payment card networks.

Do Not Include: Credit card transactions.ATM or credit card transactions.
Transactions initiated at an ATM.
Credit-push transactions (other than, where appropriate, returns), sometimes referred to as original
credit transactions (OCTs).
Transactions for which another network establishes the interchange fee received by issuers, even if
your network performs some or all processing functions for these transactions on behalf of the
other payment card network.

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 following 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

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Value ($)

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.

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

Value ($)

Volume

1a:

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 following categories:
1f.1 + 1f.2 = 1a

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

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Value ($)

Volume

1a:

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 from the interchange
fee 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 from 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 fees 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 fees 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.

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

Dollars ($)

2a:

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

2b.1 Interchange fees on card-present
transactions
2b.2 Interchange fees 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 following categories:
2c.1 + 2c.2 = 2a

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

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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 following categories:

Dollars ($)

2a:

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

2d.1 Interchange fees on general-use prepaid
card transactions
2d.2 Interchange fees 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
following categories:
2e.1 + 2e.2 = 2d.1

2e.1 Interchange fees 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 fees on non-exempt generaluse prepaid card transactions (only
include interchange fees paid to non-exempt
issuers for non-exempt transactions)

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

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Dollars ($)

3b.2:

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

Dollars ($)

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)

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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, for example, to customer disputes, fraud, processing errors, authorization issues, or nonfulfillment 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
form of payment in the United States to initiate a debit to an account. It does not include transactions
initiated at an ATM, including cash withdrawals and balance transfers initiated at an ATM. For more
details, see General Instructions, Frequently Asked Questions, Q8. Debit card transactions include
charitable contributions, payments made to satisfy an obligation (e.g., tax liability), or payments made
for other purposes, such as to fund another account. It does not include credit card transactions or
transactions initiated at an ATM.
Dual-message transaction: Transaction type by which authorization information is carried in one
message and clearing information is carried in a separate message as originated from 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 from the interchange fee 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 funds 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 funds, except when all remaining funds are provided to the
cardholder in a single transaction.
Exempt issuer: An issuer is exempt from the interchange fee standards for CY 2021 if that issuer has
total worldwide banking and nonbanking assets, including assets of affiliates, 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 from the

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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
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 for 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 fees charged
by card networks, including both fixed fees and per-transaction fees. Exclude fees for optional services
related to transaction processing that may be provided by a card network or an affiliate of a card
network. If fees are shared with other card programs or activities, allocate the fees based on the
number of transactions. For example, if your institution collects a single fee for debit and credit card
operations, allocate those fees 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 for 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, for example, to the return of goods by the cardholder), and transfers value from 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 information 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 funds. Therefore, 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.

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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.

Frequently Asked Questions
1. 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.
2. Q: Who needs to fill out the Payment Card Network (PCN) survey?
A: Any payment card network in the United States.
3. Q: What is the deadline to fill out the survey?
A: You are required to fill out the survey by May 1, 2022.
4. Q: Can I request an exception or an extension?
A: No, the rule (12 CFR § 235.8) unfortunately does not provide for exceptions or extensions.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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 affiliated group of merchants for goods or services, or (2) a check draft or similar
paper instrument, or an electronic representation thereof.
8. 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 form of payment in the United States to initiate a debit to an account. Such transactions
include those conducted with both business and consumer debit cards. Debit card transactions
include charitable contributions, payments made to satisfy an obligation (e.g., tax liability), or
payments made for other purposes, such as to fund another account (sometimes referred to as
account funding transactions (AFTs)). Debit card transactions do not include credit card
transactions, transactions initiated at an ATM, or credit-push transactions, sometimes referred to
as original credit transactions (OCTs).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.

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