Wednesday, June 23, 2010

What is FACTA?

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 is an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act which allows consumers to request and obtain a free credit report once every twelve months from each of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies and also contains provisions to help reduce identity theft.


The FACT Act contains seven major titles: Identity Theft Prevention and Credit History Restoration, Improvements in Use of and Consumer Access to Credit Information, Enhancing the Accuracy of Consumer Report Information, Limiting the Use and Sharing of Medical Information in the Financial System, Financial Literacy and Education Improvement, Protecting Employee Misconduct Investigations, and Relation to State Laws.

Under the title of Identity Theft Prevention and Credit History Restoration is a section requiring the truncation of credit and debit card numbers. This act prohibits businesses from printing more than 5 digits of any customer's card number or the card expiration date on any receipt provided to the cardholder at the point of sale or transaction. The act did not become effective for three years after its enactment for any cash register manufactured before January 1, 2005 and did not become effective for one year after its enactment for any cash register manufactured after January 1, 2005.

If you are unsure if your system meets any of these guidelines please contact STCR Business Systems at 607-757-0181.