FACTA Rules May Pave Way For Consumer Class Actions

In June of 2005, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) went into effect, ushering in a new era of identity theft protection.

These new regulations came into play after an act of Congress changed rules regarding credit and debit card transactions to try and decrease the risk of identity theft and credit card fraud.

FACTA was passed in 2003 in response to rising concerns regarding identity theft in an increasingly-digital world. Much of the FACTA compliance rules have to do with companies securing and destroying credit card information gleaned from customer transactions.

Not every FACTA rule went into effect instantly, to give businesses time to comply with new rules and regulations. But a lions’ share of the new rules in effect has to do with credit and debit card receipts.

What are FACTA Rules?

The FACTA Act mostly deals with limiting the amount of information that can be printed on customer transaction receipts. Credit card receipts may only show the last five digits of a credit card number to help identify the credit card account used in the transaction and cannot display the card’s expiration date.

The new FACTA rules only apply to electronically printed receipts, not ones handwritten or impressed. It also only applies to point-of-sale receipts, not other types of invoices and transaction records. But these new credit and debit cards receipt rules still apply to a vast number of sellers.

At a glance, the new FACTA rules may seem arbitrary and nit-picky. But each serves a purpose. In this new age of digital fraud, identity thieves can work with less and less. One productive afternoon of dumpster-diving could turn up receipts from multiple stores. If each prints a different part of the credit card receipt, it is possible that they could piece together enough information to use the debit or credit card.

By standardizing digital receipts, the new FACTA rules make it harder for identity thieves to use discarded credit card receipts to piece together critical information.

FACTA Lawsuits

FACTA rules are partially designed to be enforced through consumer class action lawsuits. Credit card lawsuits under FACTA allow consumers to seek statutory or monetary damages dictated by FACTA, as well reimbursement for attorney fees and other costs linked to the lawsuit.

As of December of 2006, all electronically printed debit card and credit card receipts must comply with these rules or face FACTA lawsuits, as well as enforcement action from agencies like the Federal Trade Commission. Violators could find themselves facing a FACTA class action lawsuit if they are lapse in their FACTA compliance.

The FTC has published several guides and articles to help businesses comply with the new FACTA credit card rules. Businesses that do not comply with credit and debit card receipt truncation could face FACTA class action 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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