International Services Surveys: Amendments to the BE-150, Quarterly Survey of Cross-Border Credit, Debit, and Charge Card Transactions

This proposed rule would amend the regulations of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce (BEA) to add new entities that would be required to report information on the BE-150, Quarterly Survey of Cross-Border Credit, Debit, and Charge Card Transactions. Specifically, this rule would expand the covered entities to include companies that operate personal identification number (PIN)-based debit networks. As proposed, PIN-based debit network companies would be required to report on cross-border transactions between (1) U.S. cardholders traveling abroad and foreign businesses and (2) foreign cardholders traveling in the United States and U.S. businesses. BEA is proposing this change to improve the identification of cross-border travel transactions. BEA also proposes to change the survey title from Quarterly Survey of Cross-Border Credit, Debit, and Charge Card Transactions to Quarterly Survey of Payment Card and Bank Card Transactions Related to International Travel to reflect this change to the regulations. In addition, BEA proposes to make certain changes to the data collected on the BE-150 form to collect them in greater detail. If these changes are approved, the BE-150 survey would be conducted on a quarterly basis beginning with the first quarter of 2012.

Agency Contact: Chris Emond, Chief, Special Surveys Branch, Balance of Payments Division (BE-50), Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; email Christopher.Emond@bea.gov; or phone (202) 606-9826.