Truncation protects customers from identity theft and losing their credit card number if they lose their receipt. Just as important, it protects merchants from incurring fines and potential lawsuits if a customer's un-truncated data is stolen.

Following are examples of a truncated and an un-truncated receipt:

Federal Penalties Are Severe

Not following the federal Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) now in effect can result in severe penalties (FACTA’s grace period ended June 8, 2008).

The Visa/MasterCard penalties for merchants who continue to print non-FACTA compliant receipts range from $5,000 for a first violation to $50,000 for a fourth violation and $500,000 a month for a willful or egregious violation. Federal and state penalties may also be collected.

A dissatisfied customer or credit card company agent can report an un-truncating establishment to authorities. In addition to the fines, the non-compliant business may also be prevented from accepting credit cards in the future or even potentially be shut down.

What You Can Do

Check your point-of-sale systems and the receipts issued to customers to make sure they comply with both the account truncation and the expiration date removal requirements.

If you determine that you are not complying, call your current merchant account provider or contact NAHB’s credit card processing partner, Solveras Payment Systems.

Solveras will determine if your current machine has the ability to truncate. They can also determine how much you could save on processing costs (NAHB members saved an average $1,858 in 2008).

For more information, call Solveras at 800-613-0148, or visit www.solveras.com/nahb and complete the request form.

---

Free NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips to Navigate the Slowdown

What was once expected to be a relatively mild housing slump following three years of record new home construction and sales has given way to a significant downturn.

To help members navigate the uncharted waters of this slowdown, NAHB has compiled a comprehensive “Back to Basics” online toolkit — the best of the basics, the tried and true and the truly new. To access the toolkit, click here.

To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar.

For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.