WASHINGTON—The Electronic Payments Coalition has written to U.S. House leadership to urge advancement of data security and data breach notice legislation.
The Electronic Payments Coalition is a broad-based group that includes NAFCU, CUNA and other trades.
The EPC represents credit unions, banks of all sizes and payment networks. In its letter, EPC Executive Director Molly Wilkinson urged House leaders for help advancing the bill, HR 2205— The Data Security Act of 2015—which was reported out favorably by the House Financial Services Committee last December on a strong bipartisan vote of 46-9. The same bill has awaited action of the House Energy and Commerce Committee since last May.
Wilkinson noted positives in both HR 2205 and another, similar bill now before the commerce panel, but she said HR 2205 “strikes the right balance and should provide Congress with the bipartisan momentum needed to move towards enactment of legislation on behalf of consumers.”
Currently, it is credit unions and banks that must bear the costs of making consumers whole when merchant data breaches occur. “It is neither equitable nor sustainable for community banks and credit unions to be forced to pick up the pieces after repeated retailer breaches,” Wilkinson urged.
HR 2205, long supported by NAFCU and CUNA, would establish national data security standards that are scalable and that would place merchants under requirements similar to those followed by financial institutions, including credit unions, since 1999 under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
“It is time to protect consumers’ personal data by putting in place a national security standard,” the letter reads. “That is why we ask Congressional leadership to engage both the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Financial Services Committee to enter into a constructive dialogue with each other to advance comprehensive data security and breach notice legislation that works for all interested parties.”