MasterCard Requirements for Transaction Information Documents

MasterCard Requirements for Transaction Information Documents


MasterCard has established specific requirements regulating the type of information that can and cannot be included in transaction information documents (TIDs) that are used to document transactions involving their cards.


TIDs can be one of several types:

  • Retail sale.
  • Credit.
  • Cash disbursement.
  • Information.


If the merchant uses a manual imprinter to produce a TID, it is called a formset or slip. If the merchant uses an electronic point-of-sale (POS) terminal, the merchant can substitute a terminal receipt for a formset.


TIDs must not include the following information:

  • The PIN or any fill characters representing it.
  • The CVC 2, which is the three-digit code located on the back of the card, to the right of the signature panel.


Formsets need to contain the following:

  • Retail sale and credit slips need to provide a space for the description of the products or services sold by the merchant to the customer and their cost.
  • Adequate spaces for:
    • Customer’s signature.
    • Card imprint.
    • Date of the transaction.
    • Authorization number (except on credit slips).
    • Sales clerk’s initials or department number.
    • Currency conversion field.
    • Merchant’s signature on credit slips.
    • Description of the identification document provided by the cardholder on cash disbursements and retail sale slips for certain unique transactions.
  • Identification of the slip as a retail sale, credit, or cash disbursement and of the receiving party of each copy.
  • The customer copy of the formset should have the following message printed out: “IMPORTANT-retain this copy for your records,” or words to similar effect.


Terminal receipts need to identify the transaction as a retail sale, credit, or cash disbursement and contain the following information:

  • “Doing Business As” (DBA) merchant name, city and state, country, or the point of banking location.
  • Transaction date.
  • Card account number.
  • Transaction amount in the original transaction currency.
  • Adequate space for the customer’s signature (required on merchant copy only).
  • Authorization approval code (except on credit receipts).
  • Merchant’s signature on credit receipts only.


Account number truncation and expiration date omission requirements. The cardholder receipt generated by all electronic POS terminals, including ATM receipts, must reflect only the last four digits of the account number. All preceding digits must be replaced with fill characters, such as “X,” “*,” or “#,” not with blank spaces or numeric characters. It is recommended that the merchant copy is also produced in the same way. Additionally, all cardholder and merchant receipts, generated by electronic POS terminals, must not show the card expiration date.


Image credit: Wikimedia Commons.

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