The e-mail was from a consumer who wondered why merchants used the full credit card account number on store receipts. She was concerned about the information being used to steal her identity.

We checked with Visa and learned that the company has a requirement that the copy given to customers have a truncated account number with only the last four digits showing. However, no such requirement exists for merchants’ copies. In fact, Rosetta Jones, a spokesperson for Visa,

told us that the store must have an unaltered version of the receipt to effectively protect itself against a chargeback.

She also pointed out that there is no home address, social security number, or other information that is typically important to an identity thief. In addition, Visa and a number of other credit card companies have a zero liability policy that protects cardholders from any liability for fraudulent transactions.