Target says it has reached settlement with Visa over data breach

Target Corp. reached a settlement with Visa Inc. over a hacker attack that struck the retail chain during the 2013 holiday season and exposed millions of customers' personal information.

"Target is pleased that we have reached a settlement agreement with Visa related to the data breach," the Minneapolis-based retailer said in a statement Tuesday. Separately, Visa confirmed that it has reached an accord with Target. Under the terms of the deal, the chain will pay banks that issue Visa cards as much as $67 million, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the situation that it didn't identify.

Target previously reached an agreement with MasterCard Inc. to pay banks $19 million for costs they incurred in the data breach. But that pact failed to garner sufficient support from banks, Target said in May.

The costs of the Visa settlement are already reflected in the retailer's previously reported financial results, Target said on Tuesday.

Visa said the agreement "attempts to put this event behind us, and increase the industry's focus on protecting against future compromises with new technologies."