Visa cuts data company's security rating
After a credit card information breach that hit major U.S. credit cards, the data company Global Payments has been dropped from the Visa registry of providers that meet data security standards. Credit: AP, 2011
A company that processes credit card transactions said Monday that as many as 1.5 million card numbers were compromised in a data breach early last month.
The chief executive of the company, Global Payments Inc., said the matter was "absolutely contained," but Visa dropped the company from its list of approved third parties that process transactions between stores and banks.
The breach was revealed Friday when Visa and MasterCard said they had notified issuers of its credit cards. Monday, American Express said it may have been affected, and Discover promised to reissue cards where appropriate.
Global Payments set up a website to help cardholders but did not provide the names of affected stores or banks. Its stock fell 4.5 percent Monday. It fell 9 percent Friday before trading was stopped.
Global Payments CEO Paul Garcia said card numbers were compromised but cardholder names, addresses and Social Security numbers were not. He said the company was working with law enforcement.
The breach appeared to be one of the largest in the past several years. -- AP
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