Supporting Statement

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR INTERNET DIRECT DEPOSIT APPLICATION

31 CFR 210

OMB No. 0960-0634

A. Justification

1. Beneficiaries of Social Security benefits may choose to receive their payments through the Direct Deposit Program, in which benefits payments are sent directly to accounts maintained by beneficiaries at financial institutions (FI). In order to route benefit payments to the account at the FI, two key pieces of information are necessary: the depositor’s account number and the routing transit number of the receiving FI. This information is used by the Treasury, the Federal Reserve System, and the FI to route payment to the beneficiary’s account. Under the authority of 31 CFR 210, 5 USC 301, and 12 USC 391, the Social Security Administration (SSA) collects this information through the Internet Direct Deposit Application.

2. Beneficiaries who want to receive their SSA benefits through the Direct Deposit Program fill out the Internet Direct Deposit Application with information such as their bank account number and the routing number of their FI. This information is then used by SSA to enroll beneficiaries in the Direct Deposit Program or to change routing information (if a beneficiary already enrolled in the program changes the accounts to which benefits are transferred).

3. The Internet Direct Deposit Application is compliant with the Agency’s Government Paperwork Elimination Act plan in that the application process is completely electronic: the Direct Deposit Application is only completed online. Beneficiaries access the application through the Internet, complete the necessary screens, and then submit the application to SSA electronically. This screen is for electronic transmission only and is not intended for mailing to the Agency.

4. The nature of the information being collected and the manner in which it is collected preclude duplication. There is no other collection instrument used by SSA that collects data similar to that collected here.

5. This collection does not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small businesses or other small entities.

6. There are no technical or legal obstacles that prevent burden reduction.

7. There are no special circumstances that would cause this information collection to be conducted in a manner that is not consistent with 5 CFR 1320.5.

8. The 60-day advance Federal Register Notice was published on January 4, 2007 at 72 FR 357, and SSA received no public comments. The 30-day advance Federal Register Notice was published on March 23, 2007, at 72 FR 13851, and SSA received no public comments.

There have been no outside consultations with members of the public.

9. SSA provides no payment or gifts to respondents.

10. The information requested is protected and held confidential in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 1306, 20 CFR 401 and 402, 5 U.S.C. 552 (Freedom of Information Act), 5 U.S.C. 552a (Privacy Act of 1974), and OMB Circular No. A-130.

11. The information collection does not contain any questions of a sensitive nature.

12. Each year an estimated 80,000 beneficiaries take 10 minutes each to complete the Internet Direct Deposit Application, for a total of 13,333 burden hours. The total burden is reflected as burden hours, and no separate cost burden has been calculated.

13. There is no known cost burden to the respondents

14. Since the information collection process for the Internet Direct Deposit Application is completed online, there is no annual cost to the Federal Government for printing and distribution costs or for collecting the information.

15. The current burden of 13,333 hours represents an 11,833 hour increase over the previous burden of 1,500 hours. This change is due to an increase in the number of respondents: since the last OMB clearance of this collection, an additional 71,000 beneficiaries have enrolled in the Direct Deposit Program or have changed their account or FI information (there are currently 80,000 respondents versus 9,000 respondents previously).

16. The results of the information collection will not be published.

17. SSA is not requesting an exemption to displaying the OMB expiration date on the Internet screens.

18. SSA is not requesting an exception to the certification requirements at 5 CFR 1320.9 and related provisions at 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods

Statistical methods are not used for this information collection.

Internet Direct Deposit 2/6/2021

2