search  current discussion  categories  business - sales & marketing 

changes in credit card laws for merchants

updated sun 14 dec 03

 

Gary and Carla Goldberg on fri 5 dec 03


I received a call from the company that handles the sales from credit =
card purchases. They said that starting in 2004, Visa and MC are =
requiring that the receipt I give my customers must only show the last 4 =
numbers of their credit card number. Of course I asked if I could just =
scribble out the rest of the numbers and they said that wouldn't work =
because someone could go through thier trash and hold it up to the light =
and get the numbers. (I guess it is now my responsibility if some idiot =
doesn't tear up his cc receipts that have numbers on it.)

So anyway, I live in Alaska and when I do shows I don't always have =
access to electricity and cell phones are not that reliable due to the =
mountains, etc. So I can't depend on a traditional swipe type machine =
available to most "normal" venders. I use a "knuckle cruncher" to get =
the info and wait unitil I get home and enter in the data into my =
machine and get the authorization code then.

So what are the rest of you doing to deal with this? Are you just =
blacking out the number? If you are buying new equipment do you have =
recommendations on CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP equipment? I don't do a lot of =
credit card sales, let alone other types of sales :) so I'm not excited =
about buying more equipment.

Thanks, Carla


Creative Clay Concepts Inc.
http://creativeclay.tripod.com/home.html

Earl Krueger on sat 6 dec 03


On Friday, Dec 5, 2003, at 15:23 US/Pacific, Gary and Carla Goldberg
wrote:

> the receipt I give my customers must only show the last 4 numbers of
> their credit card number

Carla,
I would think that the form you put into your "Knuckle Kruncher" should
be designed to take this into account. Even if there were no ink for
the prefixing numbers the impression would still be there so, I guess
the form would have to have a tear-off portion.

Have you asked THEM how THEY propose to solve this problem? You might
have to trade in your "Knuckle Kruncher" for a "Wrist Wrecker". ;-)

Earl...
Bothell, WA, USA

Des & Jan Howard on sun 7 dec 03


Carla
The norm in Oz is to lease not buy "click-clacks" & electronic machines,
making changes of the type you describe would be the responsibility
of the company supplying the equipment in the form of a
replacement machine or a software download.

Here are some comparisons:
Westpac Bank (our bank)
Credit card, manual & EFTPOS - All 16 numbers displayed on receipt & copy
Debit card, EFTPOS only - First 9 numbers displayed & last 10 numbers dropped on receipt & copy.

Commonwealth Bank (local art/craft co-op)
Credit card, manual - All 16 numbers displayed on receipt & copy.
Credit card, EFTPOS - First 5 & last 5 displayed & middle 6 dropped on receipt & copy.
Debit card, EFTPOS only - First 5 & last 5 displayed & middle 9 dropped on receipt & copy.

An advantage of leasing.
About 11 AM on a Sunday following a storm our EFTPOS machine
spat the dummy during a sale, the company service rep
waited on the line while attempts were made to reboot system.
When this didn't work she said another unit would be sent.
At 9 AM next morning a new unit arrived by air courier, no charge.
22 hours, 365 km Sydney to Mudgee, 28 km out of town to us.

Des


Gary and Carla Goldberg wrote:

> I received a call from the company that handles the sales from credit card purchases. They said that starting in 2004, Visa and MC are requiring that the receipt I give my customers must only show the last 4 numbers of their credit card number. Of course I asked if I could just scribble out the rest of the numbers and they said that wouldn't work because someone could go through thier trash and hold it up to the light and get the numbers. (I guess it is now my responsibility if some idiot doesn't tear up his cc receipts that have numbers on it.)
>
> So anyway, I live in Alaska and when I do shows I don't always have access to electricity and cell phones are not that reliable due to the mountains, etc. So I can't depend on a traditional swipe type machine available to most "normal" venders. I use a "knuckle cruncher" to get the info and wait unitil I get home and enter in the data into my machine and get the authorization code then.
>
> So what are the rest of you doing to deal with this? Are you just blacking out the number? If you are buying new equipment do you have recommendations on CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP equipment? I don't do a lot of credit card sales, let alone other types of sales :) so I'm not excited about buying more equipment.

--

Des & Jan Howard
Lue Pottery
LUE NSW 2850
Australia
Ph/Fax 02 6373 6419
http://www.luepottery.hwy.com.au

Cat Yassin on mon 8 dec 03


In a message dated 12/5/2003 7:45:30 PM Central Standard Time,
gone2dog@MTAONLINE.NET writes:

> I received a call from the company that handles the sales from credit card
> purchases. They said that starting in 2004, Visa and MC are requiring that
> the receipt I give my customers must only show the last 4 numbers of their
> credit card number.

Carla, did you say this was a "law"? I do the same thing you do using a
"knuckle cruncher" at the sale and then processing it later. I would think if M/C
and Visa changed their rules and it wasn't a "law" then they should replace the
"knuckle cruncher" with their latest gadget that answers the problem without
charging us for a new cc gadget. Kinda reminds me of when the city changed the
name of the street I lived on and then I had to pay for a new drivers license
to change my street name and pay for all new checks. Wasn't MY fault they
changed the name... But.. as a person who uses credit cards, I do think having
new forms that only show the last 4 numbers of the cc number is good idea.

-Cat Yassin
San Antonio

Anne Wellings on tue 9 dec 03


Carla wrote:
> I received a call from the company that handles the sales from credit
card > purchases. They said that starting in 2004, Visa and MC are
requiring that > the receipt I give my customers must only show the last 4
numbers of their > credit card number.

Cat wrote:
>Carla, did you say this was a "law"? I do the same thing you do using
>a "knuckle cruncher" at the sale and then processing it later. I would
>think if M/C and Visa changed their rules and it wasn't a "law" then they
>should replace the "knuckle cruncher" with their latest gadget that
>answers the problem without charging us for a new cc gadget.

I just got something from Merchant Services today saying that some states
have recently started requiring this and others will soon do so. This makes
it sound like a law in certain states. No mention was made of my state or
any particular state. It said you could check out whether your terminal
could comply or what options there are to upgrade it, but no mention was
made of "knuckle crunchers", which I also use. I wonder if the receipts
that we put through the crunchers could be designed so that the customer's
copy will not show the first 3 sets of numbers? I guess it would work to
have no carbon under that part of the receipt?

Anne

Neil Fallon on thu 11 dec 03


This change is part of the legislation known as the Fair Credit Reporting
Act. The Act was renewed last week by President Bush. The intent of the Act
is to prevent one's identity from being stolen and used fraudulently. Part
of the legislation requires the credit agencies to provide us a copy of our
credit history for free each year. This helps each of us monitor our credit
and discover if someone else is using our identity without our knowledge. An
ID thief can do a heck of a lot of damage if he/she acquires one of our
credit card numbers and other personal information. You can guard against
this by reviewing your credit history from time to time.

Under the legislation, consumers will be able to e-mail, call or write the
three major credit bureaus for a free copy of their credit report and their
credit score each year to help them understand why their credit was denied
or approved.

Here is the part that effects us as merchants. The law requires businesses
to black out Social Security numbers, parts of credit card numbers and debit
card numbers on receipts, and require the coding of medical information on
credit reports. I would think one could merely line out these numbers on the
paper receipts that are produced by the "knuckle bangers".

We will see.

Neil Fallon
Rock Pond Pottery
____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org

You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/

Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.

Sam or Mary Yancy on thu 11 dec 03


Does anybody know who to call, e-mail, or write to get this free info? sam in daly city. Might be worth checking ........


three major credit bureaus for a free copy of their credit report and their
credit score each year to help them understand why their credit was denied
or approved.>

Neil Fallon on fri 12 dec 03


Equifax.... Transunion .... Experian

These are the three reporting agencies. There web sites may have
information about retreiving your credit report.

Neil Fallon
Rock Pond Pottery

-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On Behalf Of Sam or Mary
Yancy
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2003 9:50 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Changes in credit card laws for merchants


Does anybody know who to call, e-mail, or write to get this free info? sam
in daly city. Might be worth checking ........


three major credit bureaus for a free copy of their credit report and their
credit score each year to help them understand why their credit was denied
or approved.>

____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org

You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/

Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.