Bank and Credit Union Trade Groups Call for National Data Breach Standards

Seven financial trade associations wrote to lawmakers calling for a national data security and breach notification standard.

In a letter to Representatives Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) and Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), the financial trade associations called for a standard that would require all entities handling sensitive personal and financial data to have robust protections in place and to notify consumers in a timely manner in the event of a breach. They also added that such a standard would help eliminate current inconsistencies between a patchwork of state and federal laws.

“Our existing payments system serves hundreds of millions of consumers, retailers, financial institutions and the economy well,” the groups wrote. “Protecting this system is a shared responsibility of all parties involved and we must work together and invest the necessary resources to combat increasingly sophisticated threats to the payments system.”

The seven financial trade associations that signed the letter are the American Bankers Association, Consumers Bankers Association, Credit Union National Association, Financial Services Roundtable, Independent Community Bankers Association, National Association Federally-Insured Credit Unions, and The Clearing House.

Read the letter.