WASHINGTON — CUNA executives said the association will be briefed today on a settlement from MasterCard that will bring MasterCard issuers who suffered losses in the companies card data security breach a share of roughly $24 million from the retailer to compensate them for their losses.

Issuers who wish to participate, including credit unions, will forfeit the right to further litigate for breach losses but will get a settlement much more quickly. In this regard it resembles a similar settlement offer which was made and accepted by Visa Inc. earlier this year.

“This agreement reflects MasterCard's continuing commitment to working with merchants and our customers to reach appropriate and fair resolutions of data breach events,” said Joshua Peirez, chief payment system integrity officer for MasterCard Worldwide. “We believe that by working closely and cooperatively with issuers and merchants we can reduce the overall impact and costs of security breaches, while protecting consumers and accelerating fair and equitable resolutions of claims.”

Under the terms of the agreement, MasterCard card issuers that filed claims for operational expenses related to accounts designated by MasterCard in alerts to issuers or for reimbursement of fraud losses on such accounts used at TJX stores during time periods identified by MasterCard will be eligible to receive financial restitution in the second quarter or 2008, provided they choose to participate in the optional program, the card brand said.