On December 1, 2015, in In re Target Corporation Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, Target Corp. agreed to a proposed settlement of almost $39.4 million to resolve pending class action claims alleging violations of the Minnesota Plastic Card Security Act (Minn. Stat. § 325E.64), and common law negligence and negligence per se, with banks and credit unions that issued payment cards affected by the data breach Target experienced in the fourth quarter of 2013 (No. 14-2522 (D. Minn Dec. 2, 2015)).

In December 2013, Target confirmed it was aware of unauthorized access to payment card data that impacted approximately 40 million customers making credit and debit purchases in its US stores between late November and mid-December 2013. This data breach likely resulted in the theft of personal information, such as the email addresses and telephone numbers of consumers.

The agreement creates a $20.25 million settlement escrow fund where eligible banks and credit unions can claim for either:

The $20.25 million will be paid directly into an escrow account from which fixed premium claim payments will be made first, and documentary support claims will be paid from the remainder.

The agreement also requires Target to forego any further challenges to the $19.1 million MasterCard ADC assessment, from which additional claims will be paid.

Target will also have the right to terminate the settlement if the issuers of more than 525,000 eligible payment accounts submit valid opt-out requests.