In the wake of a data breach at JPMorgan Chase, the US state of Connecticut has decided to suspend its debit card programme for paying out tax refunds, resorting to paper cheques.
Earlier this month it emerged that hackers had compromised JPMorgan Chase's network, putting the personal information of around 465,000 pre-paid cardholders at risk.
Connecticut's tax department says that it will now have to issue cheques to around 5000 taxpayers due a refund over the next few weeks. Tax commissioner, Kevin Sullivan, blasted the bank, telling the Hartford Courant: "I am wildly unhappy with the level of customer service".
Although the state could have cancelled the debit card contract, it has decided to keep it in place. However, cheques will remain as an option for taxpayers next year, alongside the debit card programme and direct debits.
Sullivan says that using debit cards saves Connecticut around $300,000 a year but "we owe it to the public to seek a new contract that assures security and far greater responsiveness".
In September Citi agreed a $55,000 settlement with Connecticut over a security flaw in its online banking service which enabled crooks to access the account information of hundreds of thousands of customers.