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The Massachusetts Bankers Association is asking Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide to provide more information on large data compromises so banks can better serve their customers. The Boston Globe reported last week that 17 Massachusetts banks have reissued credit and debit cards in the aftermath of the Heartland Payment Systems Inc. data breach. Heartland announced in January that hackers breached its network last year and captured the credit and debit card numbers and expiration dates of an undisclosed number of cards.
"If they notified us right away, it would be much easier for the bannk to do their investigations and try to figure out who is at fault and to protect customers better," Bruce Spitzer, spokesperson for the Massachusetts Bankers Association, tells ATM&Debit News.
A debit card task force consisting of executives from the state's banks wants the card networks to change their rules regarding data breach information, Spitzer says. Visa and MasterCard did not respond to requests for comment by deadline. Spitzer contends banks can better address customers' concerns about data breaches if more information is available from the card networks.
"Customers in past have blamed the banks, which is misplaced," he says. "It's the banks that are trying to protect them." Each of the 17 Massachusetts banks reported that more than 1,000 customers were affected by the breach.
Rockland, Mass.-based Rockland Trust Co. reported to the state's general attorney that is was forced to reissue almost 19,000 debit MasterCards and 64 Visa credit cards during the past couple of months.
Rockland did not respond to requests for comment by deadline. According to a filing with the state's attorney general's office, Rockland described how thieves used software to collect unencrypted card data as Heartland was authorizing transactions through its system. Spitzer says a new state law requires financial institutions to alert the attorney general's office of security breaches. ATM
