Citibank is re-issuing a number of MasterCard credit and
debit cards used in the UK, Canada and Russia, after admitting
customer accounts have become compromised after its network was
breached.
The bank said it had become aware of a “third-party business
information breach”. It would not be more specific, but this could
mean that a retailer or credit clearing house had lost customers’
data.
Citibank said that last month it had detected “several hundred
fraudulent cash withdrawals in three countries”.
As a result, said the bank, it was re-issuing cards to those
customers affected. It said it had already blocked PIN-based
transactions on some of the cards that have been compromised,
preventing any ATM withdrawals.
The Bank of America recently reported its second major data
breach in a year. The largest US bank cancelled the debit cards of
a number of its customers following a data security breach at an
undisclosed company. It is not clear whether the breach affected an
online company or a high street chain.
The bank did not disclose the number of customers affected, but
it said many would have their cards cancelled and replaced as a
precaution.