FACTA Compliance Keeps Credit Card Info Off Receipts

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) is a U.S. law that was passed in 2003 by Congress. Its intent was to take identity theft protections for American consumers a step further than the Fair Credit Reporting Act which it amends.

Yet many businesses either remain ignorant of FACTA regulations or do not take FACTA compliance seriously.

FACTA Compliance with Credit Card Transaction Receipts

More and more, American consumers are relying upon their debit cards and credit cards in lieu of cash when making financial transactions.

These transactions then generate a printed receipt unless the customer chooses not to take one or has it emailed to them. If a company is vigilant with its FACTA compliance, it knows that truncation of a debit or credit card number is essential to remaining within the parameters of the law.

To remain in FACTA compliance, no more than the last five digits of a debit or credit card number can appear on a transaction receipt. This rule must be very rigidly applied, and missing numbers replaced with placeholder symbols such as hashtags or keyboard stars.

There is no other order that the five allowed numbers of the account can appear.

Another hard and fast rule that is part of the newer identity theft protections concern debit or credit card expiration dates. Businesses seeking FACTA compliance cannot—under any circumstances—print any part of a debit or credit card account’s expiration date on a printed receipt.

Even references which might seem couched in obscurity must be avoided.

A month and day of the month notation without forward slash or hyphen would be an example. Whether such digit combinations are prefaced with an abbreviation of the word expiration or not is irrelevant—all are disallowed under the law.

The idea behind these debit and credit card receipt printing rules is to make it more difficult for would-be identity thieves to isolate account numbers through a process of elimination. Having an expiration date along with more than the allowed number of account digits makes this process much easier on those with criminal intent in the technological age.

Statutory damages can be assessed against a business for failing to adhere to these strict receipt printing rules. The penalties can run from $100 to $1,000 per instance. When violations are gathered into a FACTA class action lawsuit, they can do significant financial harm to a business failing to take FACTA compliance seriously.

Other FACTA Elements

FACTA also offers other consumer-friendly provisions. Under FACTA, American consumers can obtain a free credit report once a year from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—the three major credit reporting bureaus domestically.

This ability allows citizens to find out about potential problems appearing in their record and either dispute or correct those issues before the consequences become prohibitive and out-of-control.

Additionally, military service people are given the privilege under FACTA to alert one of the three credit bureaus when they are scheduled for deployment. The notified bureau is then required to pass the information on to the other two agencies.

Being able to have this alert as part of their record restrains identity thieves from taking out credit in their name while they are overseas and out-of-contact.

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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