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Consumer Protection — Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//April 18, 2012//

Consumer Protection — Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//April 18, 2012//

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Consumer Protection — Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act

It does not violate the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act for a business to print on a receipt, the final four numbers of a credit card account, rather than the final four numbers of the number embossed on the card.

“Paragraph (1) uses the phrase ‘card number’ and paragraph (2) the phrase ‘account number’. Why the difference? Van Straaten and her experts don’t have an explanation. Worse for them, the phrase ‘account number’ in paragraph (2) does not mean the ISO’s ‘primary account number.’ That number is encoded on a magnetic stripe or RFID chip. Some credit and debit cards emboss the primary account number on the front, but many don’t. A Shell Card has only 14 of the ISO standard’s 18 or 19 digits on the card’s front. So when paragraph (2) says that an ‘imprint or copy of the card’ can record the whole ‘account number,’ it means that the imprint can contain all of the embossed digits, which are not necessarily the same as the ‘primary account number.’ Likewise, we conclude, ‘card number’ in paragraph (1) is not necessarily the same as the ‘primary account number.’ Maybe all ‘card number’ means is ‘number appearing on the card.’ Then the merchant may print any of the digits in that number, provided only that it prints no more than five. Printing any small subset of the digits on a card enables the customer to know which card was used for a particular purpose (that’s why merchants want to print some of the digits), without enabling a stranger to learn the full number.”

Reversed and Remanded.

11-8031 Van Straaten v. Shell Oil Products Co, LLC

Petition for Leave to Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Manning, J., Easterbrook, J.

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