Hunton Retail Law Resource

An insured seeking coverage for credit card fees assessed against its third-party payment processor following a data breach recently filed an appeal in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Spec’s, a liquor store chain with over 160 locations throughout Texas, suffered two major data breaches of its credit card payment system, resulting in the loss of customer information and credit card numbers. Spec’s accepts Visa and MasterCard payments from its customers through a third-party processor, First Data. As a result of the breach, First Data incurred liability assessments from MasterCard and Visa totaling $9.6 million. A merchant agreement required Spec’s to indemnify First Data for any assessments First Data incurred as a result of a breach of Spec’s system. First Data demanded indemnification from Spec’s for the fees. Without any adjudication of First Data’s claims and without Spec’s consent, First Data allegedly wrongfully withheld $4.2 million in credit card payments owed to Spec’s. Consequently, Spec’s sued First Data in Tennessee federal court to recover the $4.2 million.

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