Target settles data breach lawsuit with banks for $39 million

Personal information, such as phone numbers and email addresses of 110 million people, were stolen in the breach.

The banks, which service MasterCard, filed a class action lawsuit against Target after rejecting an earlier $19 million deal.

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The banks lost millions when they were forced to reimburse customers who lost money in the massive 2013 hack of Target’s database.

And you thought your credit card bills after the holidays were bad: Target is going to pay $39.4 million to reimburse banks for losses it sustained following the retailer’s huge 2013 data breach, under the terms of a settlement in federal court. The latter accord won court approval last month.

US financial institutions (such as banks) that issued payment cards (credit or debit cards, for example) that were identified as being put at risk from the breach.

Molly Snyder, a Target spokeswoman, said the retailer is “pleased that the process is continuing to move forward”.

The case is In re: Target Corporation Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, No. 14-md-02522. If it’s given the OK, the release says it will the “the first class-wide data breach settlement ever reached on behalf of financial institutions”.

The Consumer Bankers Association said member costs for card replacements and other expenses stand at about $172 million.