DENVER—Two more state credit union leagues have joined the class action suit against Equifax in which CUNA has taken the lead: the Mountain West Credit Union Association and the Nebraska CU League.
“The decision was made in the best interest of the Association's 125 credit unions and more than 3.2 million credit union members in Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming,” the MWCUA stated.
The breach at Equifax put 146 million U.S. customers' personal information at risk and included 209,000 credit card account numbers.
“That risk is passed on to credit unions and other financial institutions because Equifax failed to secure its website, ignored warnings from security experts and delayed reporting the breach, which was only partially disclosed Sept. 7, 2017,” the league said.
"We have not seen a data breach of this magnitude before and the potential impacts to credit unions and their members is unprecedented," said Scott Earl, president and CEO of MWCUA. "The Association joined this suit both to help protect our affiliated credit unions and to hold Equifax accountable for the fallout from this breach. Protecting members is a top priority of all credit unions. We may not know the full impact of this extensive breach for years. The costs to credit unions will be significant."
The league noted that credit unions will incur financial losses related to crisis services such as canceling and reissuing compromised cards, reimbursing consumers for fraudulent charges, increasing fraudulent activity monitoring, taking appropriate action to mitigate the risk of identity theft and fraudulent loans, sustaining reputational harm, and notifying consumers of potential fraudulent activity.
"The information accessed and stolen includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and in some instances, driver's license numbers," said Earl. "Credit and debit card information for approximately 209,000 consumers also was stolen, further increasing the potential for damage to members and credit unions. We believe we need to stand up for the rights of our credit unions and their members."
Separately, the Nebraska CU League said it is joining the litigation for similar reasons.
“The Equifax breach has harmed and will continue to harm our credit unions and their members,” Nebraska Credit Union League CEO Scott Sullivan said in a news release. “We refuse to sit idly by as our credit unions begin to bear the long-term financial cost and personnel burden from Equifax’s breach.