Newsroom

September 18, 2014

CUs proactive on Home Depot data breach

Reports say credit unions and banks are already starting to reissue cards to members and customers possibly affected by the Home Depot data breach, an incident some say could lead to as much as $3 billion in fraudulent charges on stolen cards.

Credit protection firm BillGuard, sourced in a CBSnews.com article, said losses from the Home Depot data breach will reach at least $2 billion and could rise to $3 billion. The firm said it has customers who've seen charges for as little as $5 and others that have reported thousands of dollars of fraudulent activity on their cards.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that JP Morgan Chase, TD Bank, regional lender Huntington Bancshares Inc. and University Federal Credit Union in Texas have already started reissuing new cards to their customers and members. WSJ on Thursday reported that as many as 56 million cards may have been compromised in the five-month Home Depot attack.

The massive data security breach has even prompted Senate Commerce Committee members Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., to request a Federal Trade Commission investigation. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Subcommittee Chairman Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., in action lauded by NAFCU, wrote Home Depot last week seeking a briefing on the breach.

NAFCU continues to press for legislative action to set national data security and breach notification standards for retailers. The association is also a member of the Payments Security Task Force, a diverse group of participants in the payments industry focused on EMV chip implementation, including ways to help reduce testing and implementation time.