WASHINGTON – CUNA has filed its lawsuit against Equifax over the data breach that has exposed personal and financial information on an estimated 145.5 million consumers. The Michigan league also announced it has joined the suit. CUNA had announced last week that it intended to file the lawsuit.
“We filed this lawsuit because our member credit unions are very concerned with the effects of this breach, everything from re-issuing compromised cards to adding uncertainty to the loan underwriting process,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “Credit unions will bear substantial costs dealing with the fallout from this breach, and this lawsuit is a step toward recouping those costs.”
In a statement, CUNA said it expects credit unions will likely be dealing with a number of long-term costs resulting from the breach, including canceling and reissuing compromised cards, reimbursing members for fraudulent charges, increasing fraud monitoring, taking action to mitigate identity theft, sustaining reputational harm and notifying consumers of potential fraudulent activity.