Millions of Target shoppers in America face new debit card limits

At least two million shoppers who used bank debit cards at Target stores during its recent data breach are facing lower limits on how much cash they can take out of teller machines and spend at stores.

JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Saturday it was notifying customers who used Chase brand debit cards at Target from November 27 through to December 15 that they were now limited to US$100 a day of cash withdrawals and US$300 a day of purchases with their cards.

The new limit affects roughly two million accounts, or 10 per cent of Chase debit cards, according to a spokeswoman for Chase, the consumer banking business of JPMorgan, the biggest US bank by assets.

Chase said the measure was precautionary to prevent criminals from taking money from customer accounts. Chase and other banks say they will cover unauthorised transactions that customers report.

"Banks are putting various precautions in place," Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said, declining to be specific about what the banks were doing.

Representatives for other major banks, including Bank of America and Citigroup, said their institutions were taking steps to protect accounts, but none described specific actions so broadly limiting to cardholders as those of Chase.