Song-Beverly Credit Card Act: limits on collecting personal information at checkout
Song-Beverly 1747.08
Financial · Other
Stops merchants from requesting or requiring a cardholder's personal identification information (such as address, phone number, or ZIP code) as a condition of accepting a credit card, or recording it on the transaction form, except where needed for shipping, delivery, or other listed purposes.
- Where
- California
- Citation
- Cal. Civ. Code 1747.08
- Status
- In force
- In force since
- 1991-01-01
- Last amended
- 2012-01-01
- Enforced by
- Cardholders, California Attorney General, district attorneys, and city attorneys
- People can sue
- Yes
- Penalties
- Civil penalty up to $250 for the first violation and $1,000 for each later violation, recoverable by the cardholder or public prosecutors (1747.08(e)).
- Applies to
- Businesses that accept credit cards in California
Practices it requires
- Do not request or require personal identification information as a condition of accepting a credit card, or write it on the transaction form, except as listed in subdivision (c).Cal. Civ. Code 1747.08(a), (c)
Sources
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: Original effective date (1991) is from background knowledge; last amendment AB 1219 (Stats. 2011, Ch. 690) presumed effective Jan. 1, 2012.
Research reference, not legal advice.