Should the Expiration Date Appear on Receipts?

Many people know that their full credit card number should not appear on receipts, but what about the expiration date?

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), passed in 2003, is most known for requiring that the majority of a person’s credit or debit card number is censored on electronically printed receipts.

But what many people may not know is that FACTA also requires censoring of a card’s expiration date.

In fact, unlike credit card numbers, the entirety of the expiration date must be censored. While debit and credit card numbers may show up to the last five digits of a card number, any portion of an expiration date that is included on a receipt violates FACTA.

Often, companies choose to censor a card’s expiration date with asterisks, so it appears like this:

**/****  or  **/**

If you see that your card’s expiration date, or even a portion of it, is revealed on an electronically printed receipt, you have cause for complaint and may file a FACTA lawsuit.

FACTA Background

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) was originally passed in 2003 to regulate the amount of information about a consumer’s credit card that can be displayed on receipts. These rules are meant to protect consumers from potential identity theft and fraud.

Not only can recognizing FACTA violations help protect you and your credit card information from potential fraud, it can actually help hundreds or even thousands of other consumers.

FACTA violations occur when a company is using a receipt machine that is not updated to fully comply with FACTA rules.

This means that, if your receipt shows your expiration date or otherwise violates FACTA rules, any other receipt that machine has printed commits the same violation. Depending on the company, this may affect hundreds or thousands of other consumers.

FACTA Lawsuits

Consumers who have noticed a FACTA violation on a receipt such as display of a card’s expiration date may file a FACTA lawsuit against the business in question, which would allow them to collect any damages as well as attorney’s fees.

FACTA lawsuits can be filed even if no direct harm, such as identity theft or fraud, has yet occurred.

Already, substantial FACTA class action litigation has been filed. Many victims have received significant awards.

FACTA awards statutory damages of up to $1,000 per violation. If consumers have multiple receipts with these violations, this can add up quite quickly.

For companies, however, costs can be significantly worse. If a company has printed hundreds or thousands of receipts, all which violate FACTA rules, they may be liable for hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in FACTA violations.

Check your receipts on a regular basis to determine whether or not your card’s expiration date is revealed and if the truncation of the credit card number properly complies.

In order to prove that a company violated FACTA, keep your receipts that clearly show FACTA violations.

Free FACTA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you made one or more purchases and the retailer provided you with a receipt that contained more than the last five digits of your credit or debit card number or the expiration date, you may be eligible for a free class action lawsuit investigation and to pursue compensation for these FACTA violations.

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