In the aftermath of the Target security breach that may have affected more than 40million credit and debit cards, some credit union league leadersare calling for legislative solutions.

The Target breach should prompt the public and lawmakers toengage in a dialogue about the antiquated magnetic strip cardtechnology, said Diane Dykstra, president/CEO of the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues in Ontario,Calif.

California and Nevada credit unions have been inundated bythousands of calls from members concerned about their creditinformation in the wake of the Target incident, the leaguesaid.

The $8.2 billion Golden 1 Credit Union in Sacramento, California'ssecond-largest credit union, said about 67,000 of its 650,950members have been affected by Target's payment card breach.

“Golden 1 is proactively replacing all potentially impactedcards,” said Donna Bland, Golden 1 president/CEO. “The safety andsecurity of our members' accounts is a top priority for us.”

Last week, NAFCU urged Congress to hold hearings on the data protectionstandards of merchants and how to strengthen them

The breach involved the theft of magnetic stripe data, whichmeans criminals can use the data to manufacture new cards withvalid magnetic stripe information that may lead to even morefraudulent activity.

The Missouri Credit Union Association in St. Louis said it hasalready contacted that state's U.S. senators and representativesregarding the data breach and the need for new legislation.

“We hope that the nationwide aspect of the Target data breachwill provide an impetus for congressional action,” said Amy McLard,the MCUA's senior vice president of advocacy.

Dykstra suggested that retailers and financial institutions inthe U.S. adopt the more secure chip and PIN card technology, notingits wide use in other countries and that it has proven to be farless vulnerable to security breaches.

“Every consumer now has to keep an eye on their creditinformation and there likely will be headaches for both consumersand the financial services industry, with the potential need toreplace millions of cards,” she said. “It's an embarrassment for aretailer, but the breach costs fall on the shoulders of consumersand their financial institutions, like credit unions.”

Each card costs credit unions $5 to $10 to reissue and deliver.This expense is greatly exacerbated by the immense cost incurred bycredit unions to reimburse their members who have lost funds due tofraudulent transactions, according to Dykstra.

“It's time to make sure retailers tighten the security of theirsystems,” Dykstra said. “A powerful incentive would be to hold themresponsible for the cost of these breaches instead of consumers andfinancial institutions. This is a bipartisan issue our state andfederal elected officials need to address.”

In Minneapolis, where Target operates its corporateheadquarters, credit unions throughout Minnesota have been floodedwith thousands of calls, emails and in-person contacts frommembers, the Minnesota Credit Union Network reported last week.

McCUN said credit unions were addressing member concerns,working with Target and card vendors and issuing new cards asneeded.

The MCUA also said many Missouri credit unions are postingupdates about the security breach on their social media sites.