Costco Hit With FACTA Credit Card Receipt Truncation Lawsuit

Bulk retail giant Costco Wholesale Corp. has been hit with a Fair and Accurate Transactions Act (FACTA) lawsuit in an Illinois federal court for allegedly printing too many numbers on customers’ credit card receipts.

Plaintiff Emiguela Paci alleges that Costco willfully violated FACTA when they knowingly printed the first six numbers of her credit card number on her receipts.

According to Paci, the credit card receipt showed the first six digits of her American Express credit card and the last four digits printed on a different receipt.

FACTA was passed by Congress in 2003, to combat the rising problems of credit card fraud and identity theft.  The policy requires merchants and business to limit the numbers shown on credit or debit card receipts, by omitting them or replacing them with symbols. This process is called truncation, and is meant to protect vital credit card information of consumers.

Under current FACTA policy, businesses are not to produce any electronic debit or credit card receipts showing more than the last five digits on a printed receipt. FACTA applies to all electronically printed debit or credit card receipts printed by cash registers, self-service kiosks, gas stations, and restaurants.

Costco FACTA Truncation Allegations

Costco, and other big retailers, are subject to legal consequence if they fail to comply with FACTA policy. In addition, American Express has its own privacy rules that Costco must adhere to when printing debit or credit card receipts.

“Costco, in obtaining the right to accept credit and debit card[s], contractually agreed to abide by the payment card industry security standards and the card issuing regulations, which would include the duty to review periodically their receipts for compliance including whether any of their point of sale terminals were printing too much card information,” Paci said in her FACTA class action lawsuit.

In addition, Paci pointed that Costco could have prevented these FACTA violations by programming the correct commands into store credit card processing machines. Costco also could have conducted audits and provided proper training to their employees and managers.

Paci’s lawsuit went on further to state that Costco had exposed her and other proposed class members to the risk of credit card fraud and identity theft. She is seeking an unspecified amount of damages, along with any punitive damages and payments for her legal fees.

This is not the first time Costco has been in trouble over FACTA violations — the company faced a similar lawsuit back in 2007. Customers alleged that Costco gas station debit and credit card receipts showed more than the last five digits of the card number along with the expiration dates.

That FACTA class action lawsuit was later denied class action status by a California federal court and was paused in 2008 due to a related appeal pending before the Ninth Circuit.

The Costco FACTA Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 1:16-cv-00094, in the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois.

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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