Best Practices for Sales Receipts

Description of the Products and Services

All products and services purchased in the same transaction must be included on a single transaction sales receipt. A description of the products and services and their price, including applicable taxes, must be entered on the sales receipt in detail sufficient to identify the transaction. If no currency is identified on the sales receipt, the transaction is considered to have taken place in the currency that is legal tender at the point of interaction. If the merchant offers multiple currencies, then the sales receipt must indicate all of the following information:

The transaction amount in the merchant’s local currency (the products or services total).
The converted transaction amount in the currency chosen and agreed to by the cardholder and the merchant (the sale total).
The currency symbol of each.
The method by which the currency agreed to by the cardholder was converted from the amount in the merchant’s local currency.

Imprint of the Card

A legible imprint of the card must be made on the sales receipt, or the merchant may electronically record the customer’s card information and the merchant location.

If a transaction is completed without obtaining a card imprint or an electronic record of the card information, the merchant must note legibly on the sales receipt sufficient information to identify the cardholder, the merchant, and the card issuer. This information must include at least the name and address of the merchant, the name or trade name of the card issuer as it appears on the face of the card, the account number, the Card Security Verification Code, the expiration date, the cardholder name, and any company name.

If the transaction is completed without obtaining a card imprint or an electronic record of the card information, the merchant is considered to have verified the true identity of the customer as the cardholder, unless the merchant has obtained and noted on the sales receipt independent evidence of the cardholder’s true identity.

Transactions based on mail orders, telephone orders, pre-authorized orders and eCommerce orders may be completed without a card imprint.

Information Required on Sales Receipts

Authorization Number. If the card issuer has approved an authorization request, unless the transaction is an offline chip-read transaction, the authorization number must be entered on the sales receipt. If more than one authorization is obtained over the course of the transaction (as may occur for hotel, motel, or car rental transactions), all authorization numbers, the amounts authorized, and the date of each authorization must be entered on the sales receipt.
Primary Account Number. The primary account number must be truncated on all cardholder-activated terminal sales receipts. Subject to local and federal laws, primary account number truncation is permitted on any other sales receipt type. It is recommended that only the last four digits of the primary account number be printed on the receipt. Truncated digits should be replaced with fill characters such as “x,” “*,” or “#,” and not with blank spaces or numeric characters.
Delayed Presentment. When the merchant receives approval for delayed presentment, the authorization number and the words “Delayed Presentment” must be noted legibly on the sales receipt.
Cardholder Identification. For unique transactions processed in a card-present environment (with the exception of truck stop transactions and card-read transactions where a non-signature cardholder verification method (CVM) is used), the merchant must record on the sales receipt a description of the unexpired, official government document provided as identification by the cardholder, including any serial number, expiration date, jurisdiction of issue, customer name (if not the same name as embossed on the card), and customer address.
Transaction Certificate. The transaction certificate is not required on the sales receipt. However, if the acquiring bank elects to record the receipt of a transaction certificate on the sales receipt, then the merchant must enter the complete transaction certificate on the sales receipt.
Prohibited Information. The sales receipt or any other document must not reflect the following information, in any manner and for any purpose:
- The personal identification number (PIN), any part of the PIN, or any fill characters representing the PIN.
- The Card Security Verification Code (CVC2, CVV2 or CID), which is located on the back of Visa, MasterCard and Discover cards and on the front of American Express cards.

Obtaining Cardholder Signature

In all card-present transaction, the merchant must give the cardholder the option of signing the sales receipt. The following best practices should be employed:

Compare Signatures. Unless the cardholder uses a PIN, the cardholder must sign the sales receipt. Once the cardholder signs the sales receipt, the merchant must compare the signature on the sales receipt with the signature on the card to determine whether they appear to be the same.
Signatures Do Not Match. If, after examining the two signatures, the merchant believes that the signature on the card does not match the one on the sales receipt, the merchant must contact the acquiring bank for instructions. The signature would not match if the signature panel were signed “Mark N. Jones” and the sales receipt – “Ken Jones” or “K. Jones.” The signature would be acceptable if signed “Mark N. Jones,” M. N. Jones” or “Mark Jones.” The signature would also be acceptable if a title such as Mr., Mrs., or Dr. is missing or is included.
Signature Not Required. Transactions processed in a card-not-present environment, such as mail orders, telephone orders, pre-authorized orders and eCommerce orders may be completed without the cardholder’s signature. The merchant must indicate each of these transaction types by printing on the signature line of the sales receipt the letters “MO” (mail order), “TO” (telephone order), “PO” (pre-authorized order) or “EC” (eCommerce order) as appropriate. The merchant must retain and make available to the acquirer upon request the cardholder’s written request to the merchant for pre-authorization. The merchant must not deliver merchandise or perform services covered by a pre-authorization after receiving notification that the pre-authorization is canceled or that the card covered by the pre-authorization will not be honored.
Using a PIN Instead of a Signature. At physical stores where a PIN is used as a cardholder verification method (CVM), the merchant is not required to obtain the cardholder’s signature if the cardholder uses a PIN. The merchant must obtain a successful PIN validation when PIN is used at a hybrid terminal as a CVM for credit transactions.
Provide the Cardholder with a Copy of the Receipt. The merchant must provide the cardholder with a true and completed copy of the sales receipt.

Multiple Sales Receipts and Partial Payments

Merchants must understand and implement the rules that regulate the handling of multiple sales receipts.

Split Tickets are Prohibited. Merchants are prohibited from using two or more sales receipts for a single transaction, also known as a split ticket, to avoid an authorization request.
Include All Products and Services on a Single Sales Receipt. All products and services purchased in a single transaction must be included in one total amount on a single sales receipt except in the following instances:
- Multiple Cards are Presented. That is when more than one card is presented for payment on a single transaction, and an authorization is obtained for the portion of the transaction charged to a credit or debit card at issue.
- Multiple Items are Billed. That is when multiple items are purchased and individually billed to the same account, and an authorization is obtained for each item purchased.
- Partial Payment. Merchants are prohibited from processing a payment card transaction where only a part of the total amount is included on a single sales receipt, except in the following instances:
  - When the cardholder bills a portion of the transaction amount to a credit or debit card and pays the remaining balance by cash or check.
  - When the products or services will be delivered or performed after the transaction date, one sales receipt represents a deposit, and the second sales receipt represents a payment of the balance. The second sales receipt is conditioned upon the delivery or performance of the products or services.

Implementing the above procedures will address situations where the cardholder has paid a “deposit” for merchandise that was agreed to be picked up at the merchant’s location by the cardholder. The cardholder then goes to the merchant location and discovers that the merchant is bankrupt or out of business and the cardholder is unable to receive the merchandise.

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