The National Restaurant Association today expressed support of legislation designed to clarify the requirements of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act of 2003 (FACTA), a federal law restricting the display of credit-and-debit card digits and expiration dates on customer receipts. The bill, H.R. 4008, was introduced this week by Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-Florida) and would clarify that any merchant that complied with the truncation requirement for credit card numbers on receipts but left on the expiration date would be in good faith compliance with the law. The confusion over the interpretation of the law has resulted in a wave of class-action lawsuits against restaurant companies and commercial retailers.

“FACTA has created an enormous amount of confusion among business owners,” said John Gay, senior vice president of Government Affairs and Public Policy for the National Restaurant Association. “The Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act will clear up the inconsistencies in the law and ensure that the frivolous lawsuits brought on by FACTA are put to an end. The bill has bipartisan support and we urge Congress to act swiftly on this important issue.”

FACTA, passed by Congress in 2003, requires 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 cardholder at the point of sale or transaction.” This provision of FACTA took full effect Dec. 4, 2006. The clarity of the FACTA language has been called into question. Specifically, legal issues have arisen in litigation filed under FACTA on whether the measure requires businesses to both cut the number of digits and remove the expiration date.