Unauthorized electronic access to North American credit card payment processor’s system exposes data of up to 1.5 million cards

Global Payments Inc., a provider of payment processing services for retailers and financial institutions, reported an unauthorized access into its payment processing system in April, exposing card data for up to 1.5 million card numbers.

It is unknown if the breach affects Canadian accounts.

The company said it determined the card data might have been accessed in early March 2012. It said it immediately engaged external experts in information technology forensics and contacted federal law enforcement.

The company said it is continuing its investigation into this matter.

“The investigation to date has revealed that Track 2 card data may have been stolen, but that cardholder names, addresses and social security numbers were not obtained by the criminals,” the company said in a statement. “Based on the forensic analysis to date, network monitoring and additional security measures, the company believes that this incident is contained.”

VISA has since dropped Global Payments from its list of approved third party companies that process credit card payments between retailers and banks, according to a report by the Associated Press published in Canadian Business.