adminIn September of 2017, Equifax announced a data breach that exposed the personal information of 147 million people. It also put financial institutions at risk. If your credit union issued one or more payment cards identified as having been at risk as a result of that data breach, it could get a payment from a class action settlement.
Per the settlement, Financial Institutions are entitled to seek up to $4.50 per alerted on payment card and $5,000 towards documented fraud costs and other enumerated losses attributable to the Data Breach. The claims deadline is Dec. 31, 2020. Learn more here.
- The settlement resolves lawsuits brought by financial institutions and associations as a result of a third-party criminal cyberattack on Equifax, which was announced by the company in 2017 and affected payment cards belonging to approximately 209,000 consumers.
- Under the Settlement, Equifax will pay, on a claims-made basis, up to $5.5 million into an escrow account out of which the Settlement Administrator will make payments to Settlement Class Members who timely submit valid claims. Two types of claims may be made: “Fixed Payment Claims” and “Documented Out-of-Pocket Claims.” A Settlement Class Member may make one or both types of Claims.
- In addition, Equifax has agreed to adopt and/or maintain certain practices related to its data security and to pay separately the costs of notice, settlement administration, and, if approved by the Court, up to $2 million in fees and $250,000 in costs and expenses to attorneys for the Settlement Class. In addition, if approved by the Court, Equifax will pay service awards of $1,500 to each class representative.
The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on Oct. 22, 2020. At the Final Approval Hearing, the Court will consider, among other things, whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate; how much Plaintiffs’ lawyers will receive as attorneys’ fees and costs and expenses; and whether to approve service awards to the Settlement Class Representatives.
