FR3033_20250520_omb

Supporting Statement for the
Census of Finance Companies and Other Lenders and Survey of Finance Companies
(FR 3033p and FR 3033s; OMB No. 7100-0277)
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 Census of Finance Companies and Other Lenders and Survey of Finance
Companies (FR 3033p and FR 3033s; OMB No. 7100-0277). The FR 3033p is the first part of a
two-stage survey series, which is a census survey designed to identify the universe of finance
companies eligible for potential inclusion in the FR 3033s. It gathers limited information
including total assets, areas of specialization, and information on the corporate structure of such
companies. The second part of this information collection, the FR 3033s, collects balance sheet
data on major categories of consumer and business credit receivables and major liabilities, along
with income and expenses, and is used to gather information on the scope of a company’s
operations and loan and lease servicing activities. The data collected from this voluntary survey
will be used for two purposes: to benchmark the consumer and business finance series collected
on the Board’s monthly Domestic Finance Company Report of Consolidated Assets and
Liabilities (FR 2248; OMB No. 7100-0005) and to increase the Federal Reserve’s understanding
of an important part of the financial system.
The Board revised the FR 3033p by removing an opt-in option and mortgage companies
from the respondent panel, revising the wording of several questions, and adding the request of
RSSD ID and the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System & Registry (NMLS) ID, when
applicable. There were no revisions to the FR 3033s as part of this clearance.
The current estimated total annual burden for the FR 3033p and FR 3033s (collectively,
the quinquennial) is 5,124 hours, and would decrease to 3,540 hours. The revisions would result
in a decrease of 1,584 hours. The form and instructions are available on the Board’s public
website at https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportingforms.
Background and Justification
Since June 1955, the Board has surveyed the assets and liabilities of finance companies in
five-year intervals. For purposes of this survey, finance companies were defined as companies
whose largest portion of assets is made up of consumer or business loans or leases excluding
commercial banks, cooperative banks, investment banks, savings banks, savings and loan
institutions and industrial loan corporations or their subsidiaries. Through 1975, all known U.S.
finance companies were surveyed. To reduce reporting burden, in 1980 the survey was split into
two parts: (1) an extremely brief screening survey, which has been sent to all likely finance
companies that operate in the United States and its territories and possessions and (2) a longer
survey, which has been sent to a stratified random sample of identified finance companies. In
2005, the definition of finance company was revised to include companies whose largest portion
of assets was made up of real estate loans; as a result, mortgage companies became eligible to

participate in the survey. In addition, the survey was revised to instruct finance companies to
include the assets and liabilities of their mortgage company subsidiaries.
In 2010, the FR 3033p and FR 3033s underwent a major revision. The title of the
FR 3033p was changed to “Census of Finance Companies” to stress that every response is
important. Several questions on the census were modified to allow the Board to make the
determination of whether a company is a finance company rather than asking whether it meets
the definition. Similarly, the title of the FR 3033s was changed to “Survey of Finance
Companies.” Revisions to the FR 3033s included reordering assets and liability data items from
most liquid to least liquid, asking additional detail on assets and liabilities, adding a section to
gather information on servicing activities and geographic distribution of the company’s
activities, and creating a clearer distinction among the broad balance sheet data items, detailed
loan and lease data items, and off-balance-sheet securitization data items. The respondent panel
sizes for both questionnaires were increased, and the Board implemented a web-based survey
option.
The Board has used the quinquennial data to benchmark monthly data series on major
assets and quarterly data series on liabilities of finance companies developed from the FR 2248,
which is collected from a smaller sample of companies. These data are used in internal analysis
and are reported to the public in two monthly statistical releases, Finance Companies (G.20) and
Consumer Credit (G.19), as well as the quarterly Financial Accounts of the United States (Z.1)
release. As with many data series based on a fixed sample, errors of estimation tend to increase
over time and thus require periodic correction. These errors reflect the evolution in the financial
markets as new companies enter the market and market shares change and the deterioration of
the monthly sample panel as respondents close, merge or otherwise leave the panel.
In addition to benchmarking the aforementioned data series, information from the
quinquennial also provides the Board with an opportunity to learn about an important part of the
financial system. It is the only statistically reliable source of information on the types of finance
companies and the size of the industry. There is no other comprehensive source of data on the
activities of such companies. Finance companies are a key supplier of credit to households and
businesses, which is monitored by the Board and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)
in the implementation of monetary policy. Specifically, the FR 3033p allows the Board to select
more appropriate respondents for the FR 3033s and ultimately benchmark the FR 2248
accurately. Conducting the census less frequently would not provide the Board with timely
enough information to accomplish its goals and mission.
Description of Information Collection
FR 3033p
The FR 3033p is a voluntary census survey designed to identify the universe of finance
companies eligible for potential inclusion in the FR 3033s and to enable the stratification of the
sample for more statistically efficient estimation. The FR 3033p is currently composed of 7
questions to assess the company’s asset size, level of loan and lease activity, company structure,
and licensing authority.

2

FR 3033s
From the universe of finance companies identified by the FR 3033p, a sample of finance
companies will be invited, on a voluntary basis, to fill out the FR 3033s. From these finance
companies, the FR 3033s survey collects balance sheet data on major categories of consumer and
business credit receivables and major liabilities. In addition, the survey may be used to gather
information on topics that are pertinent to increasing the Federal Reserve’s understanding of the
finance companies.
The Board understands that respondents use information technology to comply with these
provisions, including utilizing a web portal to allow collecting responses online. Respondents
can also send in their responses in PDF to the project email inbox. Having multiple methods for
the electronic submission of responses encourages participation from all the respondents.1
Respondent Panel
Currently, the Board is in the process of identifying the potential universe of finance
companies. There is no national registry of finance companies to serve as the sample frame for
the FR 3033p. In 2020, a sample frame was obtained primarily from a commercial data vendor
and, to a lesser degree, from other sources. There were a substantial number of the census forms
returned by the post office as undeliverable. The Board is currently working to identify the
vendor(s) with the best coverage of companies that are likely to meet the definition of a finance
company.
The Board estimates up to 30,000 companies that, based on results from the 2020 census,
may meet the requirements for forming a sample frame. The Board would mail census forms to
all these companies. Once the companies return the census, the Board would determine the panel
of respondents for inclusion in the FR 3033s.
To improve the response rate for the census, which has been trending lower in the past
two decades, the Board is planning to conduct census mailings based on experience from other
surveys. The current plan includes a pre-survey notification letter, initial mailing, a second wave
mailing of the entire survey package to nonrespondents, and postcard reminders after each wave
of mailing, as needed.
To cope with the expected level of nonresponse to the census, the Board also intends to
select a subsample of nonrespondents for further follow-up. The Board, along with Federal
Reserve Banks, anticipate following up on 4,000 nonrespondents for the census.
To minimize burden on all respondents, only the necessary questions to determine if a
company meets the definition of a finance company are included in the FR 3033p.

1

Respondents also have the option to submit their responses in a hardcopy format via mail.

3

Frequency and Time Schedule
The Board conducts the quinquennial every five years. The FR 3033p census will be sent
out to respondents in May 2025.
Revisions to the FR 3033p
The Board revised the FR 3033p to improve the accuracy of identifying finance
companies and improve response rates; the FR 3033s is not being revised as part of this
clearance. The FR 3033p revisions, which would be effective for the May 2025 survey date,
include:
• Removing the mortgage companies from the universe of finance companies. This is a
sector that has been included since the 2005 survey. With an external data source being
available, staff believe it is appropriate to exclude the sector now.
• Removing the “opt-in” option of “Please check this box if you would like to receive an
email notification when the results of this survey are available.”
• Revising the first response option of question 5 to read “Commercial bank, cooperative
bank, credit union, savings bank, or savings and loan association. Please provide the
RSSD ID if available:” By including a request for the unique identifier assigned to
depository institutions, this approach will help us better verify and screen out depository
institutions.
• Revising the second response option of question 5 to read “Bank holding company (a
company that owns a controlling interest in one or more banks but does not itself offer
banking services). Please provide the RSSD ID if available:” By including a request for
the unique identifier assigned to the bank holding company, this approach will help us
better verify information provided to the survey.
• Revising the fourth response option of question 5 to read “None of the above. Please
provide the NMLS ID if available:” By including a request for the unique identifier
assigned by the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System, this approach will help us
match against internal data and assist proper identification of finance companies.
• Revising the first response option to read “Is your PARENT company licensed by a state
or federal authority as a” in question 6 so that it reads “Commercial bank, cooperative
bank, credit union, savings bank, or savings and loan association. Please provide the
RSSD ID if available:” By including a request for the unique identifier assigned to
depository institutions, this approach will help us better verify and screen out depository
institutions.
• Revising the second response option to read “Is your PARENT company licensed by a
state or federal authority as a” in question 6 so that it reads “Bank holding company (a
company that owns a controlling interest in one or more banks but does not itself offer
banking services. Please provide the RSSD ID if available:”. By including a request for
the unique identifier assigned to the bank holding company, this approach will help us
better verify information provided to the survey.
• Revising the fourth response option to read “Is your PARENT company licensed by a
state or federal authority as a” in question 6 so that it reads “None of the above. Please
provide the NMLS ID if available.” By including a request for the unique identifier

4

assigned by the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry, this approach will
help us match against internal data and assist proper identification of finance companies.
Public Availability of Data
The Board has used the quinquennial data to benchmark monthly data series on major
assets and quarterly data series on liabilities of finance companies developed from the FR 2248,
which is collected from a smaller sample of companies. Examples of analysis are published in
the Federal Reserve Bulletin2 and a FEDS Note.3 These data are also reported in aggregate
format to the public in two monthly statistical releases, Finance Companies (G.20) and
Consumer Credit (G.19), as well as the quarterly Financial Accounts of the United States (Z.1)
release. Individual survey responses are not made publicly available.
Legal Status
The FR 3033p and FR 3033s are authorized pursuant to sections 2A and 12A of the
Federal Reserve Act (FRA). Section 2A of the FRA requires that the Board and FOMC maintain
long-run growth of the monetary and credit aggregates commensurate with the economy’s long
run potential to increase production, so as to promote effectively the goals of maximum
employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates (12 U.S.C. § 225a). Under
section 12A of the FRA, the FOMC is required to implement regulations relating to the open
market operations conducted by Federal Reserve Banks with a view to accommodating
commerce and business and with regard to their bearing upon the general credit situation of the
country (12 U.S.C. § 263). Information collected from the FR 3033p and FR 3033s is used to
fulfill these obligations. The FR 3033p and FR 3033s are voluntary.
The information collected pursuant to the FR 3033p and FR 3033s is confidential
pursuant to exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4)), which
protects nonpublic commercial or financial information, which is both customarily and actually
treated as private by the respondent.
Consultation Outside the Agency
There has been no consultation outside the Federal Reserve System.
Public Comments
On December 23, 2024, the Board published an initial notice in the Federal Register (89
FR 104541) requesting public comment for 60 days on the extension, with revision, of the
FR 3033p and FR 3033s. The comment period for this notice expired on February 21, 2025. The
Board did not receive any comments. The Board adopted the extension, with revision, of the
FR 3033p and FR 3033s as originally proposed. On April 30, 2025, the Board published a final
notice in the Federal Register (90 FR 17932).
2

https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2018-june-survey-of-finance-companies-2015.htm.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/the-cost-structure-of-consumer-finance-companies-andits-implications-for-interest-rates-20200812.htm.
3

5

Estimate of Respondent Burden
As shown in the table below, the estimated total annual burden for the FR 3033p and
FR 3033s is 5,124 hours, and would decrease to 3,540 hours with the revisions. The number of
respondents is estimated based on the average number of respondents in the past 10 years. The
FR 3033p burden estimate is based on the standard Board burden calculation methodology.
Because the FR 3033s was not revised as part of this clearance, the FR 3033s burden estimate
will be updated in a future clearance. These reporting requirements represent less than 1 percent
of the Board’s total paperwork burden.
Estimated
number of
respondents4

FR 3033

Estimated
Estimated
Estimated
annual
average hours annual burden
frequency per response
hours

Current
FR 3033p
FR 3033s

12,800
900

1
1

0.33
1

4,224
900
5,124

8,000
900

1
1

0.33
1

2,640
900
3,540

Current Total
Proposed
FR 3033p
FR 3033s
Proposed Total
Change

(1,584)

The estimated total annual cost to the public for the FR 3033p and FR 3033s is $369,697,
and would decrease to $255,411 with the revisions.5
Sensitive Questions
This information collection contains no questions of a sensitive nature, as defined by
OMB guidelines.

4

Of these respondents, 7,200 FR 3033p are considered small entities as defined by the Small Business
Administration (i.e., entities with less than $850 million in total assets). Size standards effective March 17, 2023.
See https://www.sba.gov/document/support-table-size-standards. There are no special accommodations given to
mitigate the burden on small institutions.
5
Total cost to the responding public is estimated using the following formula: total burden hours, multiplied by the
cost of staffing, where the cost of staffing is calculated as a percent of time for each occupational group multiplied
by the group’s hourly rate and then summed (30% Office & Administrative Support at $24, 45% Financial
Managers at $87, 15% Lawyers at $88, and 10% Chief Executives at $126). Hourly rates for each occupational
group are the (rounded) mean hourly wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Occupational Employment
and Wages, May 2024, published April 2, 2025, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm. Occupations are
defined using the BLS Standard Occupational Classification System, https://www.bls.gov/soc/.

6

Estimate of Cost to the Federal Reserve System
The estimated cost to the Federal Reserve System for collecting and processing this
information collection is $237,900.

7