Our hat goes off to Hong Kong banks. Their actions this week, to mitigate the damage from the biggest credit-card data theft in history, was swift. Well, maybe a bit too swift for some customers.
The latest report from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority showed that most of the estimated 20,000 affected Hong Kong cardholders had already been informed, and the wheels were in motion to replace their cards within two weeks. Pretty efficient.
As of yesterday, no confirmed losses had been filed. Even the few cases of suspected theft seemed to involve negligible amounts. Judging from the tone of HKMA officials, the regulator also seems quite satisfied with the way things have been handled.
Now to the other side of the coin.
Money Week spoke to HSBC cardholder Alex McMillan, a 34-year-old freelance writer, who was told by the bank early this week that his account was exposed during the security breach.
While Mr McMillan agreed with the HKMA that the bank had generally done a decent job at damage control, the arrangement made to replace his card has clearly annoyed him.