FACTA: What Consumers Need To Know About Credit Card Receipts

With the rise of e-commerce and the move to a more cashless economy, identity theft was a growing concern in the early 2000s.

Congress responded to this concern by passing the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, or FACTA, a series of rules meant to help consumers.

What is FACTA?

FACTA is an amendment to Fair Credit Reporting Act that was enacted, primarily, to protect consumers from identity theft. The Act stipulates requirements for information sharing, reporting accuracy, and information disposal.

Some of the more prominent details of FACTA include:

• The three major credit reporting agencies are required to provide consumers’ credit reports to the consumer once a year, without charge.
• Consumers can place an alert message on their files if they suspect they have been victims of fraud.
• Systems that print payment card receipts must employ PAN truncation (personal account number truncation) so that the consumer’s full account number is not viewable on the slip.

Truncation: Credit and Debit Cards

The “truncation” provision prohibits a person or business who accepts credit and debit cards for the transaction of business from printing more than the last five digits of the card number on the receipt. It also prohibits printing the full expiration date.

The requirement does not apply to transactions in which the credit or debit card account number is entered by handwriting or by an imprint or copy of the card.

FACTA Compliance

Any person who negligently violates FACTA’s truncation requirement is liable for actual damages, as well as attorneys’ fees.

More significantly, in the case of “willful” violations, FACTA provides for recovery of statutory damages of not less than $100 but not more than $1,000 per violation, as well as punitive damages and attorneys’ fees.

Most of the cases filed to date do not allege actual damages, however, and rely upon the FACTA provision that allows a plaintiff to seek statutory damages if the plaintiff proves the defendant willfully violated FACTA.

FACTA Violation Lawsuits

Merchants who continue to print non-FACTA compliant debit or credit card receipts could be subject to enormous statutory damages for putting individuals at risk for identity theft.

If you have made one or more purchases where the retailer provided you with a debit or credit card receipt that contained more than the last five digits of your credit or debit card number or the expiration date, you may be eligible to pursue legal compensation for these FACTA violations.

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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