Heartland Tries to Settle Breach Damages With MasterCard Issuers

Bank Technology News | May, 2010

As it continues to mop the financial fallout form its 2008 data breach, Heartland Payment Systems last week agreed to pay as much as $41.4 million to MasterCard issuers.

The firm will fund the recovery efforts to settle loss claims by issuers associated with the breach. MasterCard, which recommends the offer be accepted, said the settlement is an “appropriate and fair” resolution for its issuing financial institution customers and will enable them to avoid protracted litigation.

In order for the settlement to become official, financial institutions representing 80 percent of claimed-on accounts will have to accept the deal by June 25, and waive their rights to future claims.

Heartland has already reached a $3.6 million settlement with American Express and a $2.4 million settlement of a class action suit by cardholders. The payment processor also came to a $60 million settlement with Visa earlier this year, though that settlement led to a lawsuit by five financial institutions against two Heartland acquiring banks—Key Bank and Heartland Bank—claiming these banks share responsibility for losses resulting from the data breach.

Computer hacker Albert Gonzalez was sentenced to 20 years in prison earlier this year for crimes connected to the Heartland breach and other online thefts.