Credit unions experienced larger losses than other institutions as a result of the Target breach, according to a new study from ATM network PULSE.
According to The 2014 Debit Issuer Study, while large banks saw 7% of the debit card base affected by fraud in 2012, that number climbed to 14% in 2013, with 10% coming from Target's breach, the report found.
Small banks saw the percentage of their debit card base affected by fraud climb from 5% in 2012 to 12% in 2013 with 9% coming from the Target theft.
Credit unions saw the percentage of their cards affected by fraud rise from 3% in 2012 to 16% in 2013, with 14% coming from the Target breach.
And the larger percentage of cards affected by fraud translated into larger fraud losses as well, PULSE reported.
On average, the entire debit issuing industry saw fraud losses hit 5.7 basis points for signature debit in 2013 and 0.7 basis points for debit transactions authenticated with a personal identification number. But credit unions saw losses of 7.2 basis points on signature debit transactions and 0.2 points on PIN authenticated transactions.
The publication, researched by consulting firm Oliver Wyman for PULSE, also said more financial institutions said expect to issue debit cards with embedded EMV chips in the next two years as a result of the Target breach.
The study report called the Target breach a tipping point and a watershed event for debit issuers. Every one of the financial institutions contacted during the research reported having suffered losses from the breach, which wound up compromising millions of card accounts.
Houston-based PULSE is an ATM network subsidiary of the Riverwoods, Ill.-based Discover Financial Services, which claims 4,400 participating banks and credit unions across the country. This is the ninth year the network sponsored this study.
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