Reports of another credit card compromise put Verity on the offensive to protect its members

It looks like yet another compromise of credit and debit card information has reared its ugly head.

On Thursday, January 18, 2007, the Wall Street Journal reported that a “giant retailer” had a customer security breach. You can read about it here (not the WSJ article, but one on MSNBC as you have to pay to read the entire WSJ online version.) According to the article, millions of shoppers that shopped as far back as 2003 at T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and other TJX stores (their parent company) could be affected.

Verity is working aggressively with Visa USA to contact any members that may have been affected. In a nutshell, here is our game plan:

We normally receive daily reports from our credit card vendor (who receives this information from Visa). Credit cards listed on this report mean that there is a possibility that a compromise of information may have occurred. Verity staff checks every card listed to see if it is one of our member’s debit or credit cards.

In light of this incident, the reports are longer than usual, however, there has been no need to do a mass reissue of plastic cards.

The good news is that there have been no reports of fraud so far. However, we are taking the following steps to minimize risk and inconvenience to our members:

1. If a member’s debit or credit card has been reported, we will contact the member in writing.
   
   
2. A new debit or credit card will be reissued to the member immediately. We have determined a time frame that will allow the member to use their current card until the new card arrives which allows the credit union to close the account without denying the member access to their funds.

If you have any questions about your account or this incident, please call our Member Service Center at (800) 444-4589 or call (206) 440-9000. Any updates will be posted on this blog.