WASHINGTON – Today, the House of Representatives will debate Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act (H.R. 4008), which would clarify retailer responsibilities when printing credit- and debit-card transaction receipts. Also, the bill is intended to remove the threat of frivolous lawsuits.

As part of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), Congress stipulated that “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 card holder at the point of the sale or transaction.” Based upon literal interpretation of the law and publicity surrounding enactment of the provisions, many retailers thought that this requirement would be satisfied by only truncating the account number down to the last 5 digits.

Almost immediately after the deadline for compliance had passed, hundreds of lawsuits were filed alleging that the failure to remove the expiration date was a willful violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act even when the account number was properly shortened. None of these lawsuits contained an allegation of harm to any consumer's identity.

Experts in the field agree that proper truncation of the card number, by itself as required by the amendment made by FACTA, regardless of the inclusion of the expiration date, prevents a potential fraudster from perpetrating identity theft or credit card fraud. Despite repeatedly being denied class certification, the continued prosecution of these lawsuits represents a significant burden on the hundreds of retailers that have been sued without any corresponding consumer protection benefit.

Many convenience and petroleum retailers have been named defendants in litigation claiming willful violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act despite having complied with the letter of the law.

In January, Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-FL) introduced the Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act to clarify that printing the expiration date on a receipt does not represent a willful violation of FACTA if the account number if properly truncated.

NACS has been working with a coalition of retail organizations in support of legislation to clarify the requirements of FACTA and remove the threat of frivolous litigation.