Merchant Violations Leave Credit Card Numbers Exposed

If you’ve ever been concerned about whether your credit card account number appears on a printed receipt, there’s a federal law that prohibits merchants from printing the whole number and gives consumers an avenue to be compensated if they do.

The electronically-printed credit card receipts that merchants give to their customers aren’t supposed to show the entire credit card number on them. Under FACTA, the merchant may print no more than the last five digits of the account number. The same law also forbids the merchant from printing the card’s expiration date on the receipt.

FACTA stands for the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, a federal law enacted in 2003 as a set of amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In addition to restrictions on printing credit card information, FACTA contains many different provisions designed to prevent credit fraud and maintain consumer confidence.

For example, it’s FACTA that gives consumers the right to one free copy per year of their credit reports from each of the three major reporting agencies.

The Federal Trade Commission, the governmental agency charged with enforcing FACTA, gradually phased in enforcement of the receipt printing requirements. After the law was passed in 2003, newer equipment was required to be in FACTA compliance by December 2004, and older machines were required to be upgraded into FACTA compliance by December 2006.

Since then, the receipt provisions have been in full effect. The step-by-step phase-in gave merchants time to reprogram or replace any non-compliant credit card equipment.

The FTC has authority to enforce FACTA through its own civil actions, potentially imposing both civil penalties and injunctive relief. Perhaps more significantly for businesses, FACTA also creates a civil cause of action that allows an afflicted consumer to bring a credit card lawsuit.

Plaintiffs can sue for compensation for whatever harm they can show was caused by the non-compliant receipt, such as credit fraud that resulted from the exposure of their account number. But even if a plaintiff cannot show such actual damages, they can still claim statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 for each willful violation of FACTA by a merchant.

Consumers can also collect their attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation, even if the action by the merchant was only negligent and not willful.

The implications can be severe for businesses whose equipment is not in FACTA compliance. One mis-programmed piece of credit card equipment may print and distribute hundreds or thousands of non-compliant credit card receipts. Where such a large number of consumers are all harmed in a similar way, the business becomes a target for a FACTA class action lawsuit.

There are a few exceptions to the FACTA receipt provisions to keep in mind. They do not apply to handwritten receipts or to those produced by older style physical imprint machines. Only receipts printed electronically must comply.

The requirements also apply only to receipts given to the consumer, not to records retained by the merchant – though other laws impose a duty on the merchant to maintain those records in a way that minimizes the risk of exposure of consumers’ sensitive information.

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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