Major Credit Card Processor sued by Credit Unions
Several Credit Unions from Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana are lead plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against Heartland Payment Systems over a massive data breach, according to an article published in the 3/28/2009 Palm Beach Post.
New Jersey-based Heartland Payment Systems, the nation’s sixth largest credit card processor reportedly serving more than 625 banking institutions and some 250,000 restaurants and retail stores who use their service to accept credit card payment, announced in January that they were victimized by what is believed to be the largest data breach in history. The breach is feared to have put confidential data such as credit card numbers and names of millions of individual credit card users in jeopardy.
The suit reportedly alleges that Heartland was slow to notify its clients, giving the thieves time to use some of the stolen credit card data. The attorney who filed the suit on behalf of the lead plaintiffs opinioned that client cost and exposure could have been minimized with more timely notice from Heartland.
