Sprouts shoppers have only through August 5 to seek a payment from a proposed $5 million settlement over card-number information allegedly printed on store receipts. Eligibility turns on what appeared on the receipt, the payment method and the date of the transaction, not simply whether someone shopped at Sprouts. People who received an emailed notice can use a short form, while others must supply transaction proof. The fund will be divided pro rata, so the settlement promises qualifying claimants a share rather than a fixed check.
The Receipt Must Fall Inside One of Two Class Periods
The lawsuits alleged that Sprouts printed more than the last five digits of a customer’s card number on an electronically printed receipt, conduct the plaintiffs said violated the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. Sprouts disputes those allegations, and the trial court initially dismissed the operative complaints before appeals and settlement talks followed. The parties proposed the agreement to avoid further litigation costs and uncertainty, without Sprouts admitting that it violated the law.
The administrator’s current eligibility terms cover personal credit- or debit-card users who received an affected receipt between August 16, 2020, and October 31, 2022. For EBT-card transactions, the period runs from March 15, 2021, through April 15, 2023. In either group, the receipt must have displayed more than the last five digits of the card number. A normal receipt showing only the permitted truncated number does not qualify.
People who received an emailed notice carrying a number beginning with “P” may submit the short-form claim and attest that they personally made at least one transaction found in Sprouts’ records. A claimant without that notice must use the longer Claim Form-R and prove an eligible transaction with a receipt or card statement. Only one claim is allowed per person regardless of how many qualifying purchases were made, so multiple receipts do not create multiple shares.
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Fees and Claim Volume Will Determine Each Check
The agreement creates a $5 million non-reversionary cash fund, but claimants will not divide the gross amount. The proposed deductions include $1,666,666.67 in attorneys’ fees, costs up to $75,000, $20,000 in total enhancement payments for the class representatives, and administration costs capped at $661,000. The remaining net fund will be divided by the number of valid, timely claimants. A lower claims count makes each pro rata share larger; a high response rate makes it smaller.
No claimant receives extra weight for making several eligible purchases. The court-authorized settlement documents treat each approved class member as one share, and any backup withholding would come out of that person’s payment. Checks are to expire 180 days after issuance. If economically feasible, uncashed money would fund a second distribution to people who cashed their first checks rather than returning to Sprouts.
The proposed settlement includes a business-practice term as well as cash. If approved, Sprouts would implement a written policy against printing more than the last five card-number digits or a card expiration date on customer receipts. That provision addresses the conduct behind the claims, while the cash fund compensates class members without requiring each person to prove an actual identity-theft loss. The alleged statutory violation is the excessive printing itself.
A payment also comes with a release. Class members who remain bound by the settlement give up covered claims against Sprouts and related parties concerning the receipt-printing allegations. That legal exchange applies even though the individual check cannot be calculated yet. Someone considering separate litigation therefore has a different financial choice from a shopper whose only objective is to submit one timely claim for a pro rata share.
Online Claims Close at 11:59 P.M. Eastern on August 5
The administrator’s Claim Form-R portal accepts electronic submissions through 11:59 p.m. Eastern on August 5, 2026. Faxed forms carry the same time cutoff. A paper form must be postmarked no later than August 5 and sent to the administrator’s St. Paul post-office box. Those are separate filing routes with one controlling date; beginning the form before the deadline is not the same as completing and submitting it.
Claimants using a bank statement can redact unrelated purchases, account numbers and other private details. The administrator says the visible information needs to establish the claimant’s name and address plus the date, amount and Sprouts transaction details. That narrower proof rule matters because the settlement concerns excess digits exposed on a receipt; it should not require a claimant to create a new privacy risk by transmitting an entire unredacted account history.
The August 5 deadline is unusually close to the settlement’s unresolved payment amount. That combination can make a small, unknown check feel easy to postpone, yet the final amount cannot be known until the claim count closes. The official record supports one firm decision point: an eligible shopper who wants to participate must submit the correct form and proof on time. Court approval and pro rata calculations come later, but a late claim cannot share in the fund merely because the settlement eventually becomes final.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Money Overview editorial team.
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