In daily purchases made with a credit card, the POS device produces two transaction receipts: the Customer Copy and the Merchant Copy.
The customer copy is given to the cardholder, while the merchant copy is kept by the merchant due to legal obligations.
The POS receipt doesn't only show the transaction amount. But as cardholders, we usually just glance at the amount on the receipt and put it away in our bag.
But have you ever thought about what other information appears on the receipt, and why it's there?
I suspect most of us would answer no.
POS receipts have legally mandatory and optional pieces of information defined for them. Merchant receipts should not contain any information beyond these.
Information that must appear on a POS receipt
Mandatory information
- The merchant's business name (trade name) and full address
- Merchant number
- The POS terminal number on which the transaction was made
- Transaction number
- Document reference number. (Maximum 8 digits. The first one or two characters must be the alphabetic bank/institution code assigned by BKM. The remaining digits form the reference number and may also serve as the transaction sequence number.)
- Transaction date (in DD/MM/YYYY format)
- The time the transaction was made (in HH:MM format)
- Card number,
- On the customer copy, the last four digits will be shown unmasked, with the rest masked.
- On the merchant copy, it is recommended that only the last four digits of the card number be shown unmasked, with the rest masked.
- In end-of-day reports, it is recommended that only the last four digits of the card number be shown unmasked, with the rest masked.
- Cardholder's first and last name
- Transaction type (sale, sale cancellation, installment sale, points redemption, etc.)
- Authorization number
- The statement “I have received the goods or service in exchange for the amount stated above”
- The cardholder's signature. If a PIN was used, the statement ‘PIN Used’ must appear instead.
- Card type (Visa, Mastercard, etc.)
- Merchant Copy / Customer Copy designation
- For chip transactions, the AID (Application Identifier)
- TC (Transaction Certificate) information (mandatory for offline transactions)
Optional information
- A statement indicating how the transaction was performed (magnetic stripe swiped, manually keyed, chip read, etc.)
- Identifying information, other than a logo, representing the goods or service paid for with the card (mobile phone number, policy number, etc.)
- Batch Number
- An indicator or message showing whether the transaction was contact/contactless or online/offline (clearing records are authoritative in customer disputes)
- Acquirer ID
- Merchant phone number
- Other payment system merchant number
- STAN
- Version number
- Vendor information
- Member name or logo
- Other messages the member wishes to convey (applicable and optional only for on-us transactions)
- Encrypted PAN (can be used for offline transactions; optional on the merchant copy, and must not appear on the cardholder copy)
When does a signature field appear on POS receipts?
For transactions made with a chip card where no PIN is entered (cases bypassed via PIN Bypass, or where the credit card does not require a PIN), a customer signature field appears on the copy of the receipt kept by the merchant. On receipts that include a customer signature, the customer's signature and identity must be verified.
On transactions where the correct PIN is entered, no signature field appears on the sales document. The statement ‘PIN Used’ appears instead.
Is there a legal retention period for merchant receipts?
Yes, there is. Regardless of whether the merchant receipt was signed or completed with a PIN entry, it must be kept for 5 years under the Tax Procedure Law and for 10 years under the Turkish Commercial Code, and must be provided upon request.