Target has agreed to a settlement worth $67 million with Visa over the huge 2013 breach scandal that affected millions of its customers.
The deal was confirmed by both companies Tuesday, but they wouldn't disclose its exact dollar amount. A person familiar to the situation however, revealed that the agreement is actually worth up to about $67 million in pre-tax payments to Visa and the financial institutions that issued the potentially affected cards.
Around 40 million credit and debit card accounts were at the center of Target's 2013 computer system breach, with hackers stealing personal information, including names and addresses of as many as 70 individuals, putting them all at risk for identity theft, Philly.com reported.
The payout will cover the cost that card issuers obtained as a result of the hack, including actions like sending out new cards and taking care of any resulting fraud.
Target had previously attained a similar deal with MasterCard Inc. to compensate banks $19 million in costs, as per Digital Trends. But card issuers weren't satisfied with the amount, so the retailer had to continue with negotiations in an attempt to finally settle.
In March, the retail giant had also agreed to pay its shoppers affected by the security breach as much as $10 million. Once they have made detailed claims to prove their case, customers could receive up to $10,000 in damages, court documents showed.
Prior the breach, hackers reportedly installed malware in Target's security and payments system, allowing them to extract credit card details from every customer transaction performed at the company's more than 1700 stores all over the U.S. Reports from last year noted that Target failed to respond on warning alerts from its security partners as the hack continues.
Target revealed the breach on Dec. 19, 2013, which is considered the peak of the holiday shopping season. Shoppers immediately avoided it stores for fear for the security of their private data, CNBC has learned.
Due to the massive scale of the attack and the company's inability to act on alerts, Target's security hack is considered as one of the most notable breaches in recent times.
