Southern Minn. banks sue Target over data breach

Several southern Minnesota banks have sued Target in the U.S. District Court for Minnesota, seeking compensation for costs incurred after hackers stole 40 million payment card numbers from Target shoppers late last year.

The First Farmers & Merchants National Banks of Grand Meadow, Cannon Falls, Luverne, Fairmont, and Brownsdale claim they've suffered substantially because of the Target data breach.

The institutions say they've had to refund fraudulent charges, close and re-open checking and savings accounts, and cancel and re-issue credit and debit cards. The banks allege Target was negligent in protecting customer data. The sum of the damage done to the banks would be determined at trial.

So far, Target now faces 22 data breach lawsuits in the Minnesota U.S. District Court alone. The cases would no doubt be consolidated if they go forward.

The nation's banks and credit unions report they've spent about $200 million replacing credit and debit cards. But the institutions have not reported how much fraud occurred on compromised accounts.