Credit Card Receipt Laws Vital to Protecting the Identity of Consumers

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, also known as FACTA, was passed in November 2003 in an effort to protect consumers from the ever-growing threat of identity theft. The credit card receipt laws spawned as a result of this act are a vital part of consumer protection in America.

FACTA’s credit card receipt laws disallow businesses from printing full credit card numbers on a printed receipt. This act is the origin of what has become a common sight that most people take for granted: the placeholder text symbols such as “#” or “*” used in lieu of printed numbers on their transaction receipt.

FACTA’s credit card receipt laws specifically stipulate that only the last five digits can be represented on a printed receipt. It is very clear that the five digits of the credit card printed on the receipt cannot be variable in any way. The last five numbers are allowed, however a random selection of five numbers spread over the length of a typical credit card number are not okay.

Another part of FACTA’s credit card receipt laws state that there is absolutely no allowance for any part of a credit card’s expiration date to be printed on a transaction receipt.

The idea behind this disallowance and the necessary truncation of the credit card number itself is that this omission makes it much more difficult for people with criminal intent to figure out the whole piece of information necessary to steal an identity.

Unfortunately, due to neglectfulness or failure to attend to the detail of the law, many businesses have not adhered to FACTA’s credit card receipt laws.

Some have printed a random order of five credit card numbers and some have let expiration dates be available on receipts in interesting ways that violate the law such as:

EXPIRY 022018

EXP 218

EX FEB18

Such oversights or loose interpretations of FACTA’s credit card receipt laws make it much easier by process of elimination to determine a whole credit card number and its holder.

Whether or not this situation leads to identity theft and the running up of credit balances under an assumed name, the consumer who receives a receipt that is not FACTA compliant has legal recourse under this federal act. FACTA allows for the cardholder to sue, and they can be awarded with statutory damages that run the gamut from $100 to $1,000 per violation.

If the business is in the habit of violating FACTA, the financial drain on their bottom line can be huge. This would be especially true in the case of a FACTA class action lawsuit against one company.

There are exceptions to FACTA’s credit card receipt laws that need to be noted. The requirements do not apply to receipts that are hand-printed or imprinted using and old-fashioned imprint device. In the latter situation, the merchant has no choice but to include the expiration date which clearly is available on the front of the card.

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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