Visa says merchant breach exposed some data

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - credit card association Visa USA said on Friday that a data security breach at a U.S. merchant may have compromised some account information, prompting at least two banks to reissue some debit cards.

"Visa USA was recently notified by a U.S. merchant that it may have experienced a data security breach resulting in the compromise of Visa card account information," Visa said in a statement.

"Upon learning of the compromise, Visa quickly alerted the affected financial institutions to protect consumers through independent fraud monitoring and, if needed, reissuing cards."

Bank of America Corp. (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Washington Mutual Inc. (WM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said they had blocked and reissued some cards, but declined to say how many customers were affected, identify the merchant involved, or describe the nature of the breach....for more of the story from Reuters