Today, I’ll talk about what this information is and how it should be written on a credit card receipt. I will also talk about the kinds of transactions that don’t have to have a receipt and the rules that they have to follow.
Product or service description
On the receipt, the goods and services but also their prices, including any taxes, must be written in enough detail for the transaction to be clear. If the receipt doesn’t say what currency was used, the transaction is thought to have been done in the currency that can be used legally at the point of sale. If the store accepts more than one currency, the sales receipt must include all of the following:
- Amount of the transaction in the currency it was made in.
- The amount of the transaction in the currency chosen by the cardholder and agreed to by the merchant (the sale total).
- The sign for each currency.
- The way that the amount in the merchant’s home currency was changed into the currency that the cardholder agreed to.
The card’s imprint
A legible imprint of the badge must be made on the receipt, or the vendor may electronically record the customer’s card information and the merchant’s location. If a transaction is completed without a card imprint or information that can be gotten electronically, the merchant must write enough information on the receipt so that the cardholder, the merchant, and the card issuer can all be identified. This information has to include at least this same name and address of the vendor, the name or trade moniker of the card issuer as it appears on the front of the card, the account information, the password, the expiration date (or dual date), the cardholder’s name, and any company name. If the transaction is completed without a card imprint or information that can be gotten electronically, the merchant is considered to have confirmed that the customer is the cardholder.
The signature of the cardholder
If the cardholder doesn’t use a personal identification number (PIN) in a face-to-face situation, he or she must sign the sales receipt. After getting a signature, the merchant must do the following:
- Compare signatures. If the cardholder doesn’t use a PIN, the merchant has to compare the signature on the receipt to the signature on the card to see if they look the same. In particular, the first letter and the way the last name is written must be the same.
- Signatures that don’t match. If the merchant thinks that the signature on the card and the signature on the sales receipt don’t match, the merchant must call the processing bank to find out what to do.
Code for giving permission
If the card provider has accepted the full disclosure request, the authorization number must be written on the sales receipt, unless the payment is an offline hardware transaction. If more than one authorization is needed for the transaction, like in a hotel, motel, or car rental, all approval numbers, the amounts authorized, and the dates of each authorization must be written on the sales receipt.
Primary account number
On all sales receipts from cardholder-activated terminals, the main card account number must be cut off. Any other type of sales receipt can have the primary account number cut off, as long as it doesn’t break any local or federal laws. On the receipt, only the last four digits of the main account number should be written. Instead of spaces or numbers, you should use fill characters like “x,” “*,” or “#” to replace truncated digits. The name on the card and the last four numbers of the account number must match what is on the receipt.
Cardholder identification
With the exception of truck stop transactions and card-read transactions where a non-signature CVM is used, the merchant must include a description of the unexpired, official government document provided as identification by the cardholder on the sales receipt, such as any number plate, expiration, jurisdiction of issue, order date (if not the same moniker as emblazoned on the card), and customer address.
Read more: Receipt scanners: worth it? 6 Buying Tips
