The issue of credit card safety is a prevalent concern for this country’s consumers, with the risks of credit card fraud and identity theft present at every transaction. For this reason, credit card safety is taken very seriously and is a major part of consumer protection laws in the United States.
More specifically, the Fair and Accurate Transactions Act (FACTA) requires businesses to follow a strict code of conduct when printing card receipts. For the sake of credit card safety, all businesses and merchants that use receipt printing technology must perform truncation.
The process of truncation is the act of limiting the amount of information shown on debit or credit card receipts, which are only supposed to display the last five digits of the card numbers and completely omit the expiration date.
FACTA applies to all electronically printed receipts, including those produced at kiosks, cash registers, and restaurant tickets.
It is important to note that FACTA policy does not apply to handwritten or imprinted receipts, and consumers may be better off using cash for these transactions. This is because consumers cannot control what happens to their debit or credit card information after the transaction is complete.
Overview of FACTA Policy and Credit Card Safety
In addition to the truncation process, FACTA allows consumers to request and obtain free annual credit reports from each of the three biggest credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. These credit reporting companies are working in cooperation with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in order to provide free annual credit reports to consumers.
Even with these federal regulations in place, consumers should take their own measures of credit card safety to lower their chances of fraud or identity theft. Consumers should carefully choose when to use their debit or credit card to make purchases, or whether or not they need receipts.
Consumers should always check their receipts to make sure they are FACTA compliant. If the expiration date or too many digits of the card number are displayed, the consumer may be in a position to seek compensation through a FACTA lawsuit.
In addition, consumers should take great care in keeping receipts safe or find a way to safely dispose of them. Even with all these precautions, there can never bee too many precautions in credit card safety.
FACTA was passed by Congress in 2003, but businesses were given until 2006 to update their receipt transaction technology to meet federal regulations. This means there is no excuse for relevant businesses to not be FACTA compliant, and those fines can quickly accumulate into serious financial damage. Given how widespread card purchases are, it is important for businesses to follow these credit card safety regulations to help minimize the risk for consumers.
Businesses that are found to be in violation of FACTA may face damage awards up to $1,000 per violation. Consumers looking to file a FACTA lawsuit should keep documentation of their receipts, in order to prepare for the litigation process.
In addition to the receipts, consumers should also note any other corrective actions they had tried to resolve the faulty receipts and proved need for legal action. This may also help prove a willful violation of FACTA, which will maximize the penalties.
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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