14 DAY TRIAL // The largest credit card recall effort in Germany's history is underway after an undisclosed payment processor in Spain was breached. Affected individuals are currently being notified and they will be reimbursed if they suffered any losses.
The warning about the dangerous situation came from both Visa and Mastercard. “The German banking industry has responded rapidly to the warning of VISA and MasterCard regarding a possible theft of credit card data from German customers at a Spanish company,” Germany's Central Credit Committee (ZKA), announces (translated from German).
The total number of recalled credit cards is estimated at over 100,000 and Die Spiegel reports that the Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken (BVR) banking group has disabled 60,000 cards alone. Financial institutions revealed to be affected by this breach so far include Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Lufthansa, DKB-Bank, Barclays and Karstadt-Quelle.
Originally, it was thought that only German citizens who used their credit card in Spain had been impacted. However, because the unnamed compromised organization is providing payment processing solutions, the scope is actually much larger. Credit cards used exclusively in Germany could be affected as well if the local companies processed the transactions through the Spanish firm.
Most of the banks started the recalling process in October and, according to the ZKA, the entire operation is almost complete. The affected customers will be notified in writing and their cards will remain valid until they pick new ones at their bank's local office. The banks are enforcing tight monitoring for these cards to ensure any misuse is prevented until they go out of circulation.
Visa Europe noted in a statement that "Cardholders who are innocent victims of this fraud will get their money back, subject to the terms and conditions of their bank." The company also advised that "Any cardholder who is concerned should keep a close eye on their accounts and report any unusual or unexpected activity."