Equifax data breach impacts millions – Oklahoma Bankers Association

One of the nation’s largest credit reporting bureaus sustained a significant data breach late last week, and the breach may have a significant impact on a number of issues, including legislative proposals.

“I’m sure the folks at Equifax are running around in circles trying to understand what happened,” OBA President and CEO Roger Beverage. “But the reality is this huge event is likely to have major repercussions, on a number of fronts, including the current effort in Congress to overturn the (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ‘arbitration’ rule.

“The breach at Equifax is estimated to affect more than143 million Americans. We are told the actual breaches took place from mid-May through the end of July, resulting in the compromise of names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and perhaps even driver’s license information.”

Courtesy the OBA’s Elaine Dodd, below are some links for our OBA bankers to gain more information on the breaches and how it affects them. The first three are from Brian Krebs. He has been advocating security freezes for years now and it is still the best first response in Elaine’s opinion. It would also be a good time to remind customers of the big three for money security: 1. Check your bank statements (paper or online) frequently; 2. Check your credit card statements regularly; 3. Monitor your credit report throughout the year (www.annualcreditreport.com). Be aware and you will stay safe!

Finally, Elaine adds that some banks are notifying their customers about the breach, but not all. The OBA compliance team says there is no responsibility for our banks to make such notifications, but, of course, they can if they wish. Banks who are opting to notify are making it clear their banks has NOT been breached.

If you have any questions or concerns on this trending topic, feel free to drop Elaine a call (405-424-5252) or email (elaine@oba.com).