NEW CASTLE, Penn.—First Choice FCU here has filed a class-action lawsuit against Wendy’s for the data breach that first hit the fast food chain late last year.
The suit, filed in U.S. Federal Court, alleges that Wendy's failed to secure customer payment data and that FIs have so far footed the bill to make consumers whole. First Choice also alleges that the data breach lasted for almost five months, from late October to early March of 2015. The credit union cites Visa as the source of that information and says that financial institutions stand to lose millions of dollars, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
Wendy’s is headquartered in the Columbus, Ohio area.
"We have no updates at this time beyond what we have said previously, since our investigation into unusual payment card activity at some Wendy’s restaurants is active and ongoing," Bob Bertini, Wendy's spokesperson, told the newspaper.
The lawsuit alleges that CUs and other financial institutions have canceled and reissued cards, closed accounts, sent notifications to customers, investigated claims, refunded fraudulent charges and invested in fraud-monitoring programs. First Choice thinks Wendy's should reimburse FIs for their losses.
The credit union does not seek specific monetary damages, but the suit mentions that financial institutions face more than $5 million in losses, the Dispatch reported.
Wendy's reported the data breach in late January. The company has not commented on the possible scope of the breach.