The new Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) requires financial institutions to take precautions against identity theft, including:

• Maintaining an ID theft detection program featuring "red flags" of possible fraud and procedures for preventing thefts. "Many banks already use sophisticated software systems to detect fraud but FACTA sets minimum standards for all financial institutions," said Michael Jackson, an Associate Director of the FDIC's Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection.
• Printing credit and debit card receipts that show no more than the last five digits of the card number or expiration date, a requirement scheduled to go into effect by the end of 2006. This provision applies to any entity that accepts credit and debit cards for transactions.
• Implementing procedures to prevent an ID thief from fraudulently filing an address change with a consumer's credit or debit card issuer and soon thereafter requesting that an additional card be sent to that new address. "This scheme has been used in the past to make unauthorized charges before the victim is aware that a card has been sent to a fraudulent address," said Jeff Kopchik, an FDIC Senior Policy Analyst.
• Following new security procedures for disposing of certain confidential information so that the details cannot be picked out of the trash or otherwise obtained by ID thieves.