American banks and retailers are sparring over whether financialfirms should follow a new national standard to quickly notifyconsumers when they've experienced a data breach.

Equifax Inc. said last week that it would notify an additional2.4 million consumers who were hacked during its massive databreach in 2017 — but a draft of a House bill with bipartisansupport would exempt the credit-reporting agency from the newrequirements.

The proposal, backed by Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer,a Missouri Republican, and Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat,would establish a federal mandate for when and how certaincompanies, like retailers, tell customers about a data breach.Financial institutions, would be exempt, because they already haveto adhere to the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which establishesprivacy protections for consumers, according to Luetkemeyer'soffice. Equifax falls under that category because it collectssensitive financial information.