A settlement report bundles a merchant's transactions with the interchange and scheme fees each one attracted, fees whose caps sit in the Payment Card Interchange Fee Regulations 2015, overseen by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR). PCI DSS v4.0 governs the card-number side of the same report. Where the merchant is a sole trader rather than a company, the report is not purely business data: the VAT number a sole trader carries under the Value Added Tax Act 1994 identifies them personally, so UK GDPR Art. 4(1)'s definition of personal data reaches their VAT number, bank account, and trading name too.
When this applies
An acquirer sends a monthly settlement report to a sole-trader merchant, who forwards it to an external lender for a working-capital application. The lender needs turnover and fee lines, not the merchant's personal identifiers or full card digits.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Open the batch report in anonym.plus on your device.
- Local OCR reads a scanned settlement page.
- The tool flags card numbers, names, and amounts.
- Keep the batch totals and reference IDs you cite.
- Swap or black out the confirmed items.
- Save the clean report locally.
What you need to provide
- The settlement file (CSV, PDF, or scan).
- An operator (Replace keeps totals readable).
- Optional allow-list for batch and reference IDs.
PII & financial identifiers detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Account | CREDIT_CARD | ending 0004 → [CARD] |
| Names | PERSON | buyer named → [BUYER] |
| Amount | MONEY | £3,902.55 → [AMOUNT] |
| Bank | UK_BANK_NUMBER | deposit a/c → [ACCOUNT] |
| Org | ORGANIZATION | merchant of record → [MERCHANT] |
| Dates | DATE_TIME | batch date → [DATE] |
Compliance achieved
- Limits stored card data per PCI DSS v4.0 Req. 3.
- Recognises that a sole trader's VAT number and bank details are personal data under UK GDPR Art. 4(1), not pure business information.
- Keeps the interchange and scheme-fee lines the Payment Card Interchange Fee Regulations 2015 make reviewable, without the personal identifiers attached.
- Keeps batch totals and reference IDs intact for review.
- Offline handling keeps the file off any server.
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Limitations & cautions
A large file may mix native rows with scanned pages, so OCR errors are possible. Review low-confidence flags. The tool does not reconcile totals; it only removes personal data.
Frequently asked questions
Is a sole trader's VAT number really personal data?
Yes, once it identifies a specific individual trading alone. A limited company's VAT number identifies the company, but a sole trader's own VAT registration under the Value Added Tax Act 1994 is tied to them personally, so UK GDPR Art. 4(1) treats it the same as a name or account number.
Can I keep the interchange and scheme fee lines?
Yes. Those figures are what the Payment Card Interchange Fee Regulations 2015 and the Payment Systems Regulator's oversight are meant to keep transparent and reviewable. Removing personal identifiers does not require removing the fee data itself.
Does the report get uploaded?
No. The desktop app works offline, so the settlement data stays on your machine throughout.