Visa Fines Fifth Third Bancorp

CINCINNATI - Visa Inc., which had been stiffening its enforcement of card security rules, fined Fifth Third Bancorp $880,000 for its role in the massive security breach at TJX Cos., which forced hundreds of credit unions and banks to reissue millions of cards.

Fifth Third was one of the merchant acquirers of TJX, which means it was responsible for safeguarding consumer data acquired over the Visa network. At least one credit union, SELCO Community CU of Eugene, Ore., has filed suit against Fifth Third to regain costs associated with replacing thousands of its cards.

Fifth Third also was fined $555,000 by Visa for its role in the security breach at BJ Wholesale club, which forced 150 credit unions to reissue cards at a cost of millions of dollars.

Both Visa and MasterCard have vowed to get tough on those retailers and processors who violate their Payment Card Industry security standards, which require comprehensive encryption of data and the destruction of consumer information upon completion of a transaction. (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com