Customer receipt retention – what can you do to prevent identity theft?

 

With the widespread introduction of kiosks across high footfall businesses, leisure destinations and retailers such as McDonalds, Vue Cinemas and John Lennon Airport [add internal link], kiosk hosts have a wider challenge of educating customers about how they can protect themselves from identity fraud.

While many of us are aware of the methods of fraud protection when using cash points, very few people consider that the same techniques can be used when making a purchase at a kiosk. As such, we have created a list of helpful tips which can be shared with your customers.

At the kiosk

• If you are paying with a card at a kiosk, take a moment to check that the card slot does not appear as though it has been tampered with and, if there are any signs of tampering, alert a member of staff
• Cover your pin as best you can; this may be by covering the keypad with your hand or by friends standing close to you to block the view of others in the queue
• Refrain from using your mobile phone or allowing yourself to be distracted while making payment
• If payment is made by card, keep hold of your receipt and dispose of it in a secure manner (i.e. by shredding it)

Receipt retention – why should you keep your receipts?

Receipts should be retained for a multitude of reasons, especially with identity theft being one of the most distressing repercussions from not disposing of receipts in a secure manner.

Receipts from kiosks can also be required should an item break within warranty and you need to make a return. The amount debited from your account or credit card may be different to that on the receipt and the evidence of the receipt will support communications with the company in question; for employees and business owners, the receipts can be used to file an expense.

There is only one instance where receipts can be disposed of without being shredded for identity theft protection purposes and that is when items have been bought in cash without a membership/store card. However, it is important to remember that other customer rights such as those mentioned above may be lost if the receipt is thrown away.

You may wonder why receipts should be kept if a membership/store card is used – this is because stores regularly print your membership number and in some cases, your name, which can be utilised for identity theft.

What are the benefits?

At present there have been minimal reports of identity theft related to kiosks; this can be maintained through clear communications and recommendations to customers, encouraging them to take responsibility for the ways in which they use kiosks and handle their receipts.