TJX, Banks Settle Litigation Over Breach

Boston TJX Cos. and nearly all the banks and bank associations that sued the discount retailer over a massive credit-card data breach said Tuesday they have settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount.

Although both sides said the settlement total would remain confidential, TJX said the costs were covered by a $107 million reserve that it set aside against its second-quarter earnings.

TJX also has said that $107 million would cover the costs of another breach agreement: a Nov. 30 deal with Visa Inc. to help pay a maximum $40.9 million to help the network’s card-issuing banks recover expenses to replace customers’ Visa cards.

After initially disclosing the data heist in January, TJX said in March that at least 45.7 million cards were exposed to possible fraud in a breach of its computer systems that began in July 2005. But the breach wasn't detected until December 2006.