Members of the $28 million Family Focus Federal Credit Union who had debit cards canceled after the Target card data breach gained access to the funds through shared branching.

According to the CU Service Network, a shared branching CUSO, the Omaha, Neb.-based credit union's members were able to access cash in their checking accounts through shared branching at a ATM kiosk.

The NextGen shared branching kiosk and ATM provided a solution for at least 80 members, the CUSO reported.  Because members could use the shared branching aspects of the kiosk to access cash from their accounts with their driver's licenses or other cards, Family Focus members who had their debit cards closed were still able to access their funds.

Target confirmed on December 19 that data from up to 40 million credit and debit cards had been compromised in the breach. The relatively short time before the holidays heightened the breach's impact, the credit union reported, along with the fact that canceled debit cards also no longer worked in ATMs.

“Members were quite distraught,” commented Amy Broderson, president of Family Focus. Many of Family Focus's members relied largely on their debit cards for purchases and lacked enough room on their credit cards or even credit cards at all to make holiday purchases, the credit union said.

A spokesman for the CUSO said the credit union had one of the kiosks located in an outer wall of the branch, and credit union employees provided help to members unfamiliar with the machines.