MasterCard has reached a $19 million settlement with Target to reimburse member banks for expenses accrued following the massive 2013 data breach at the US retail chain.
The payout will be used to settle bank claims for operational costs and fraud-related losses on MasterCard-branded cards affected by the cyber break-in, which saw thieves steal the card details of tens of millions of customers.
“We believe this settlement provides our issuers a reasonable resolution of the Target data breach event,” says Eileen Simon, chief franchise integrity officer, MasterCard. “The timely reimbursement of costs and losses under the agreement delivers MasterCard issuers a faster and more certain resolution to the event, while reinforcing our commitment to maintain the integrity of industry security standards.”
The settlement is contingent on issuers representing at least 90% of the eligible MasterCard accounts accepting the remediation by 20 May, 2015.
In March, Target agreed a $10 million settlement to close a class action lawsuit brought by consumers.
Visa, meanwhile, is still negotiating with the retailer on a deal to reimburse Visa issuing banks.
Target disclosed in a recent financial filing that it has so far incurred $252 million in expenses related to the breach.