Merchants May Be In Violation of FACTA Credit Card Receipt Rules

Under FACTA credit card receipt rules, some retailers may be in violation of federal law by printing too much information on credit and debit card receipts.

Due to FACTA credit card receipt rules, retailers and merchants are prohibited from printing more than the last five digits of a debit or credit card or printing a card’s expiration date on a receipt. If a customer’s information was wrongfully printed on a receipt, they may be eligible for compensation under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act.

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) provides guidelines that merchants are required to protect U.S. consumers from identity theft and fraud. Congress passed FACTA in 2003 in an effort to protect U.S. consumers from the growing problem of identity theft and credit card fraud. Before FACTA was passed, merchants and retailers were not limited in the information they could include on receipts which made it easier for perpetrators to piece together credit card information.

FACTA credit card receipt rules prohibit merchants and retailers from printing more than the last five digits of a debit card or printing any information about a card’s expiration date on a receipt. FACTA specifically states “no person that accepts credit cards or debit cards for the transaction of business shall print more than the last 5 digits of the card number or the expiration date upon any receipt provided to the cardholder at the point of the sale or transaction.”

FACTA credit card receipt rules apply to all electronically printed receipts such as those printed by cash registers, self-service kiosks, and restaurants. On these receipts, sensitive information is masked or replaced through a process called truncation. Truncation replaces digits or letters with symbols such as * or #. These symbols act as placeholders on the receipt and in the electronic system. Truncation is not always done properly by merchants and they may be in violation of FACTA credit card receipt rules without knowing it.

A merchant may not print any digits of a credit card other than the last five digits. Any of the following examples are violations of FACTA credit card receipt rules.

• 11** **** **** 4444
• **** **22 **** 4444
• **** **** **33 ****

Even if a merchant prints less than five digits, if the digits are any except the last five on the card, there is a risk of identity theft and credit card fraud. If a perpetrator has multiple receipts with different digits of the same credit card on each receipt, they may be able to piece together the complete card number.

A merchant may not print an expiration date of a credit card or debit card anywhere on a receipt. Any of the following examples are violations of FACTA credit card receipt rules.

• EXP: 03/18
• EXP: 03/2018
• EXP: 032018
• EXP: 0318
• Expires: 0318
• Exp Date: 03/18
• Exp Date: 03/20/18
• EXPIRY: 03/18
• 03/17
• 0317
• Exp Date 03/**
• EXP” **/18

Merchants and retailers who commit willful or negligent violations of FACTA credit card receipt rules may be in violation of federal law.

If you or a loved one had your debit or credit card information wrongfully printed on a receipt, you may be entitled to compensation under the FACTA credit card receipt rules. A FACTA lawsuit could recover damages for potential or actual credit card fraud, identity theft, or more.

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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