What Do the Codes on a Credit Card Receipt Mean?

The codes on a credit card receipt are mostly the payment terminal documenting its conversation with your card and the bank. The AUTH code is the bank's approval stamp; the AID identifies the card application (Visa credit vs. debit); TVR and TSI record how the chip transaction was verified. Merchants keep them for disputes — for you, only a few lines matter.

The lines that matter to you

• **Masked card number (\*\*\*\*1234):** US federal law (FACTA) caps electronically printed receipts at the last five digits — most show four. If you see a full card number on a printed receipt, that merchant has a compliance problem; more in do receipts show your full card number.
• AUTH / Approval code: a 6-character code the issuing bank returned when it approved the charge. This is the code to quote in a dispute — it uniquely ties the receipt to the bank's record.
• Amount and tip lines: on restaurant slips, the merchant copy's tip and total lines are what the final charge is built from — the pending charge you see in your app may not include the tip yet.
• "Customer Copy": just which duplicate you're holding; both copies are equally valid records.

The chip-and-terminal alphabet soup

These lines document the EMV (chip) transaction. You will likely never need them, but here is what they mean:

• AID (Application Identifier): which card application ran — for example A0000000031010 is Visa credit/debit. Cards can carry several applications; the AID says which one the terminal picked.
• TVR (Terminal Verification Results): a 10-digit hex field where the terminal records the checks it performed and any failures — offline data authentication, expiry, floor limits.
• TSI (Transaction Status Information): which verification steps were completed.
• ARQC / cryptogram: the one-time cryptographic proof the chip generated for this exact transaction — the reason chip cards can't be cloned from receipts.
• Entry method: "Chip Read", "Contactless", "Swiped" or "Keyed" — how the card data entered the terminal. "Keyed" transactions carry higher fraud liability for the merchant.
• CVM line ("No CVM", "Signature", "PIN Verified"): the Cardholder Verification Method — how you were identified, or not. Most small contactless payments legitimately show "No CVM."

Why do card receipts have two copies?

The merchant copy (with the tip line at restaurants) is the merchant's evidence of the authorized amount; the customer copy is yours. Only one needs a signature where signatures are still used — card networks dropped signature requirements for most transactions in 2018, which is why many receipts now print no signature line at all.

Is a card slip proof of purchase?

It proves a payment to a merchant on a date — but it lists no items, so it is weaker than an itemized receipt for returns, expense reports and taxes. Expense policies and the IRS generally want the itemized receipt alongside or instead of the card slip; the distinction is unpacked in what is an itemized receipt. For returns, most stores can look up the sale from the card itself, which makes the slip a useful key even when it isn't sufficient proof — see what counts as proof of purchase.

The bottom line

Card receipt codes are the terminal's flight recorder: AUTH for the bank's approval, AID/TVR/TSI for how the chip conversation went, masked digits for your safety. Quote the AUTH code in disputes, keep the itemized receipt for anything you'll expense, and let the rest of the alphabet soup be. If you issue receipts yourself, the sales receipt template formats the payment block correctly by default — create one free.