African Bank confirms Experian Credit Bureau data breach

African Bank has confirmed that Experian Credit Bureau has experienced a breach of personal information of its clients. The bank says the breach means certain customers’ personal information, including the likes of identity numbers, cell numbers has been compromised.

The compromise of personal information can create opportunities for criminals to impersonate an individual but does not provide access to a customers’ banking account or details.

Chief Risk Officer of African Bank, Piet Swanepoel noted with concern that the breach of personal information will impact the bank’s credit customers. By law banks have to disclose all details of customers who have credit with them to credit bureaus- in which Experian credit bureau is one of them.

Banks affected by the breach say their customer’s banking credentials have not been breached, and fraudsters will not be able to access any of their customers’ banking details. However they have advised customers to be vigilant and report any suspicious activities on their accounts.

This as fraudsters can impersonate a bank and contact customers and pretend to be their bank since they may know their ID and their cell numbers. The data breach may have affected personal details of 24 million South Africans whose records are stored by Experian.