Credit Card Imprints are illegal?

Question

I work at a hotel in Arkansas and I just had a guest from Nevada yell at me telling me that credit card imprints are now illegal. I don't understand why american express would issue a credit card machine if they were illegal and if they were just recently made illegal why they wouldn't call/mail all of the people they issued them to. He said that we can keep doing it until someone sues us I'm assuming he means himself since I imprinted it anyway it sounded to me like something was fishy since we have government and military people stay with us all the time and haven't said a word, he told me it was due to the new privacy acts or something like that but i couldn't find anything on it. It is a legitimate credit card imprinting machiene issued by american express.

Wow thanks alot! I thought it might be something like that, I know that we put them on reg. cards in case our system and back up both go down, and also to make sure the number in the computer and the number on the reg card match since people like to switch c.c. at check in and the computer doesn't always save the second card so the wrong card could get charged. I feel a whole lot better now haha I just didn't want my manager and what not to get in trouble. I've only been doing front desk for about 7 months since my hotel opened like i said we have lawyers and high ranking govt. officals come through all the time so i assumed that they would have told me by now.

Answer 1

That imprint serves as proof that you have actually had the physical card in your possession. It is a way to prevent identify theft that protects your rights and the guest's rights.

If the manager wanted to humor that guest he could call the credit card company and have them tell the guest that rule preventing imprints does not exist.

Answer 2

Credit Card Imprint Machine

Answer 3

No, it's not illegal. This is what older credit card machine's do and even companies that have newer machines will use these older ones if the phone line is down. I've had this discussion before with people and there seems to be some misconception because best practice is not to have your full credit card number on the receipt (which an imprint will obviously have). However you can call the credit card company yourself and they'll tell you it's not illegal.

Answer 4

It is not illegal in the sense that it is against the governmental law however it is against PCI and PABP credit card regulations put in place to protect consumers that you are agreeing to follow. You are not allowed to have any documentation or computer stored file that contains the even complete credit card number. Add the expiration date and CVV and you are exposing yourself to even more liability and potential fines to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars plus the business and it s principles can be banned from being able to accept credit cards. I had a customer fined over $250k once. This is not saying that you can not make and keep imprints however the regulations to protect the access of the card data are significant and not practical and include the type of facility they may be stored in. The level of security and accessibility protocols, the length of time they can be stored, and the proper method of disposal. Leaving them in a drawer, a filing cabinet, cash drawer, ect. is not complaint and poses enormous risk to the merchant.

Answer 5

they are not illegal.
if the guest does not want to submit an imprint, consult ur manager, and ask his advice.

I work as a hotel manager, and I will kindly direct the guest to another hotel if he doesn't want to submit an imprint.

the reason for this: yes, it would suck to lose his business, but it would suck more to have his business, and not be paid for your services.

example:

He stays at your hotel, with no imprint of his credit card. the total for his stay is $400.

He then reports to his credit card company, after seeing the bill on his statement, that it was not him who stayed there, and his stay was unauthorized. the credit card company then contacts the hotel, and asks for all paperwork regarding the stay, including signed registration card, signed credit card reciept if available, as well as the imprint of the card.

fail to prouce ANY one of these documents and there's a good chance the credit card company will honor his accusation that you let someone else use his credit card, and take the money back from you, give it back to him.

short answer: if he doesn't want an imprint made, politely refuse him service, and direct him to a nearby hotel, OR: if you have an atm on the premises, or nearby, direct him to the atm and have him withdraw sufficient cash for the room, plus any security deposit u assess to hotel guests.

Answer 6

I wonder if he was misinterpreting this?

"As of Dec. 4, retailers are prohibited from printing more than the last five digits of a credit-card or debit-card account number on receipts that are handed to customers. The receipts also can't include the account's expiration date. The law applies only to electronically printed receipts, rather than those that are written by hand or imprinted on old-fashioned manual machines."

Answer 7

man i worked for a pizza place not to long ago and we took crayons to make an imprint of there card when they paid by card for delivery. so I'm pretty sure it would be alright to use a machine. some people are just stupid, and try to cause issues wherever they go. plus i think people are getting too scared of identity theft

Answer 8

You raise some good points here.