FACTA Credit Card Receipts Lawsuits Respond to Exposed Card Information

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, or FACTA, seeks to protect consumers’ private credit card information that goes on printed receipts.

More and more consumers are filing FACTA credit card receipts lawsuits after noticing that their receipts included violations of FACTA rules, putting them at risk for identity theft.

Basics of FACTA

FACTA regulations have been active for some time. Though these laws were first passed back in 2003, they went into full force in 2006. The delay was meant to allow businesses a grace period, with time to acquire or update machines to comply with these new rules.

The rules set forth in FACTA are fairly straightforward. FACTA’s main function is to limit the information that can be printed on receipts, and it does so in a highly specific way. FACTA regulations are meant to prevent potential problems with fraud and identity theft. While there are ways to recover from identity theft, the best way by far to deal with these problems is to prevent them from happening in the first place.

Being able to recognize FACTA violations can help to prevent your private information from falling into the wrong hands.

When a business violates FACTA rules, it can affect more than just your own information. FACTA violations on one receipt may also indicate that hundreds or even thousands of other customers have been affected by the same violations.

FACTA Rules and Violations

Under FACTA, businesses are required to follow specific requirements to properly truncate (shorten) the card information that is printed on customers’ receipts, censoring it from those who would take advantage of it. If these receipt rules are not followed, businesses have committed a FACTA violation that may be penalized.

It is fairly easy to spot these kinds of FACTA violations.

The first thing to look for is the debit or credit card number. You may have noticed that receipts never show your full credit card number; most of the digits are censored with asterisks. What you may not have known is that the number must be censored in a specific way, with only certain digits showing. Under FACTA, no more than the last five digits of a card number can be displayed. Digits cannot be shown from elsewhere in the number, even if five or fewer are included.

The other thing to look for is a card’s expiration date. Under FACTA, no portion of a card’s expiration date can be included on a receipt.

An example of a credit card number properly censored according to FACTA is below, with no more than the last five digits showing. Some business may choose to display fewer than five digits.

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

The expiration date should be completely censored, like this:

**/**

or

**/****

Filing FACTA Credit Card Receipts Lawsuits

Several FACTA credit card receipts lawsuits have turned into consumer class actions, meaning that a business in violation of FACTA may be hit with fines for hundreds of consumers at once. Consumers included in class action FACTA credit card receipts lawsuits do not need to prove actual harm from a FACTA violation, as the violation itself is the problem.

Proving that a business violated FACTA protections is fairly simple. Take note of whether or not your receipts follow receipt rules for both card numbers and expiration dates. If they do not, then you may join the growing number of FACTA credit card receipts lawsuits.

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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