FACTA Consumer Receipt Laws Cover Card Number and Expiration Date

The consumer receipt laws of FACTA regulate what credit card information can be published on a receipt. FACTA rules have been updated as technology has become more advanced.

The goal of FACTA is that, by restricting the personal information that can be displayed on receipts, identity theft and fraud can be reduced.

It can be a huge advantage for consumers to be aware of consumer receipt laws. If people are on the lookout for FACTA violations on their receipts, they are better able to protect their own information and even the information of others affected by the same violations. Reporting violations of consumer receipt laws may even lead to a financial award per violation.

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act, or FACTA, consists of a set of consumer receipt laws created to regulate the censoring of credit and debit card information, protecting consumer accounts and identities.

FACTA consumer receipt laws have been around for quite some time. FACTA was first passed back in 2003, though businesses were allowed time to adjust their machines to comply with these regulations. By 2006, FACTA consumer receipt laws were in full force.

FACTA consumer receipt laws are pretty simple, and have two significant facets: the credit or debit card number and the card’s expiration date. Both of these components involve the truncation (shortening or censoring) of sensitive credit or debit card information. This is meant to limit the access to your personal account numbers that a person with the receipt can get.

Basics of FACTA Consumer Receipt Laws

The primary aspect of FACTA is the credit or debit card number. According to these consumer receipt laws, only the last five digits of a card number may be displayed on receipts. The rest of these digits should be censored. For instance, this perfectly complies with FACTA:

**** **** ***5 4321

Businesses may also choose to display fewer than the last five digits, like this:

**** **** **** 1234

However, digits cannot be displayed from anywhere else in a card’s number. This card number is therefore not adequately censored, even though five or fewer digits are displayed:

1234 **** **** ****

The second major facet of FACTA consumer receipt laws deals with the expiration date. No portion of a debit or credit card’s expiration date is allowed on a receipt.

These consumer receipt laws do not apply to hand-written receipts, but this exception is almost irrelevant, as the vast majority of receipts are now printed by machines. Unfortunately, this also means that a machine that has printed one receipt with a FACTA violation has very likely printed many more with the same violation, as the process is automated and repeated for each customer.

Reporting a violation of FACTA consumer receipt laws can help not just you, but hundreds or even thousands of other consumers as well who have been affected by the same information exposure.

FACTA Lawsuits

FACTA offers statutory damages awards of up to $1,000 per violation of FACTA consumer receipt laws.

Every time you get a receipt, glance at the bottom to check if it follows FACTA consumer receipt laws regarding both card numbers and expiration dates. If they do not, then you may be able to file a FACTA lawsuit.

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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