Credit card cards. Merchants often advertise which cards they accept by displaying acceptance marks – generally derived from logos – or this may be communicated in signage in the establishment or in company material (e.g., a restaurant's menu may indicate which credit cards are accepted). Merchants may also communicate this orally, as in "We take (brands X, Y, and Z)" or "We don't take credit cards". The credit card issuer issues a credit card to a customer at the time or after an account has been approved by the credit provider, which need not be the same entity as the card issuer.
Financial privacy laws in the United States a subpoena, or a search warrant, financial institutions are obligated to disclose the requested financial information. With proof, financial institutions do not have to verify that all laws were followed before handing over information. The Song-Beverly Credit Card Act was passed in 1971 to protect consumer information in credit card transactions. Under the act, companies may not collect personally identifiable information from consumers who purchase goods or services using credit cards. Companies cannot set conditions in which consumers must consent to sharing their information in order to use their credit cards for a transaction. However, consumer information can be requested