Community banks took a hit in the aftermath of the Home Depot breach, absorbing more than $90 million in costs to reissue close to 7.5 million payment cards, according to the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA).
The group said that of the banks it surveyed, more than four percent had reported detecting fraud on compromised accounts. The banks avoided a higher fraud rate, the ICBA contended, by quickly issuing new credit and debit cards.
In a statement, ICBA Chairman John Buhrmaster, who is also president and CEO of 1st National Bank of Scotia in New York, said community banks absorb the costs of breaches upfront “because their primary concern is to protect their customers,” but that the money could be better spent on lending in local communities.
