Legislation regarding this is in the 2003 Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA). TRUNCATION OF CREDIT CARD AND DEBIT CARD ACCOUNT NUMBERS can be found on page 9, Title 1, Section 113. According to Section 605 of FACTA (15 U.S.C. 1681c), no U.S. entity that accepts credit or debit cards may print more than the last five digits of the card number on any receipt generated by a cash register or point-of-sale terminal and provided to the cardholder. The law also mandates truncation of card expiration dates on customer receipts. This portion of FACTA does not apply to transactions in which the sole means of recording a credit card or debit card account number is by handwriting or an imprint or copy of the card. Devices must be in compliance with Section 605 by December 4, 2006. Sections A and B under Sec 113 indicate effective dates of three years after the subsection was enacted (which was December 4, 2003) for cash registers in use before January 1, 2005; and one year after enactment with respect to cash registers first put into use on or after January 1, 2005. So, as of January 1, 2006, this would apply to ALL electronic receipts. For the older cash registers, the date would be December 4, 2006. It does NOT apply to handwritten, imprint, or copy (when that is the sole means of transaction). We would like your feedback on this Personal Finance Frequently Asked Question.

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