Distinctive Element of a Card Law and Legal Definition
A distinctive element of a credit or debit card refers to any material or component used in the fabrication of credit or debit cards which, by virtue of such element's chemical or physical composition, color, or design, is unique to the credit or debit cards issued by a particular issuer or group of issuers utilizing a common distinctive element or elements in credit or debit cards issued by all members of such group.
The following is a state law that provides a statutory framework regarding distinctive element of a credit or debit card:
A person other than the cardholder possessing an incomplete credit or debit card, or possessing a purported distinctive element of a credit or debit card, with intent to complete such incomplete credit or debit card or to utilize such purported distinctive element in the production or reproduction of any credit or debit card without the consent of the issuer, or a person possessing, with knowledge of its character, a distinctive element of any credit or debit card or any machinery, plates, or any contrivance designed to produce or reproduce instruments purporting to be the credit or debit cards, or a distinctive element of the credit or debit cards, of an issuer or of any issuer in a group of issuers utilizing a common distinctive element or elements in credit or debit cards issued by all members of such group, who has not consented to the production or reproduction of such card, is guilty of a Class D felony. [KRS § 434.680]
