Less than 1.5 million cards affected by breach, company says

ATLANTA — A recent data breach may affect under 1.5 million credit cards in North America, according to the card processor involved.

Visa and Mastercard announced Friday that they had notified their card holders of the potential for identity theft and illicit charges because of the breach. The card processor, Global Payments, put a number on those who could be affected late Sunday.

Global Payments said that credit card data may have been stolen but cardholder names, addresses and social security numbers were not obtained. Both Visa and Mastercard said Friday that their own systems had not been compromised.

Global Payments said that, based on forensic analysis, network monitoring and added security measures, it believes the incident has been contained.

“We are open for business and continue to process transactions for all of the card brands,” Global Payments Chairman and CEO Paul Garcia said.

Global Payments also provides its services to government agencies, businesses and others in Canada, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.