Target, Other U.S. Breaches May Spur Security Spending

Reuters, By Ross Kerber 

A rash of data breaches at big U.S. retailers may accelerate spending on high-tech payment cards, a MasterCard Inc executive and other industry specialists said on Monday, as companies look to keep the faith of their customers.<

Retailers and their banks face a deadline set by payment networks Visa Inc and MasterCard of October 2015 to accept new payment cards that store information on computer chips rather than on traditional magnetic stripes. The multibillion-dollar safety upgrade has many companies dragging their feet, and analysts estimated only 60 percent of U.S. sales terminals would meet the schedule.

Now the loss of customer data reported at Target Corp, Neiman Marcus and other stores since December could move companies to the new standard more quickly, said Carolyn Balfany, head of U.S. product delivery for MasterCard in a telephone interview on Monday. Read more.