Key Takeaways

  • General liability insurance protects against third party claims of injury or damage.
  • Cyber liability insurance covers costs and liability from data breaches and cyber attacks.
  • EPLI protects against employment practices lawsuits from employees.
  • Property insurance covers physical property and business interruption losses.
  • D&O insurance protects directors and officers from shareholder and regulatory lawsuits.

Introduction

As a credit card issuer, protecting the business from risks is essential. Your organization handles sensitive customer data and faces compliance regulations. Several types of business insurance can help mitigate legal and financial risks. This article examines the top options to consider.

General Liability Insurance

General liability insurance provides an essential protection for businesses in the credit card issuing industry from third party lawsuits. It covers legal fees and payments if customers or others claim damages due to business operations like accidental injuries, errors in services, data breaches and other covered causes. General liability insurance is especially important for credit card issuing businesses due to the large customer base and sensitive financial information they handle. It provides essential protection from lawsuits in the event a customer claims they suffered damages due to your business’s negligence, errors and omissions, or other covered causes. As a credit card issuer, there are risks of customers or third parties like merchants filing liability lawsuits over issues with services provided, accidental injuries, or data breaches. General liability insurance helps protect the company’s assets by covering legal costs and settlement payments for these types of claims.

Category List
Benefits
  • Protects your business from third party claims of bodily injury or property damage
  • Covers legal fees and expenses if you are sued
  • Protects your business assets from having to pay large claims or legal settlements out of pocket
  • Covers advertising injury claims if a customer claims your marketing damaged them
  • Provides defense even if the claims against your business end up being meritless
  • Covers injury or damage resulting from errors and omissions in your operations
Use Cases
  • Protection against liability lawsuits from customers, if they are accidentally injured on the premises or during company events
  • Coverage for damages or injuries caused by errors and omissions in services provided to customers
  • Legal fees and settlements for liability claims from third parties like merchants, if there are disputes or problems with processing credit card payments
  • Defense against lawsuits alleging improper data security practices led to customer information being stolen or compromised

Based on typical rates for financial services industries, general liability insurance for businesses in the credit card issuing industry would be approximately $2.50 per $1,000 of payroll, with a minimum premium of $1,500. This pricing is derived considering the risk level associated with potential lawsuits from customers related to credit card services, identity theft protection, and other financial services provided to consumers.

Estimated Pricing: $2.50/$1,000 payroll, $1,500 minimum

Cyber Liability Insurance

As a leading credit card issuer, your organization handles large amounts of sensitive customer financial data on a daily basis. This makes your business an attractive target for cyber attackers seeking to profit from stolen payment card data. Being in the credit card issuing industry with NAICS code 522210, your business faces risks of data breaches, legal lawsuits, fines and loss of customer trust if a cyber incident occurs compromising customer payment information. Cyber liability insurance offers coverage for these risks and can help your business respond effectively in the event of an incident while protecting your organization from the high costs and liability risks associated with a potential data security incident or breach of customer records.

Category List
Benefits
  • Covers costs of a data breach including notification, credit monitoring, forensic investigation, legal expenses
  • Protects from lawsuits in the event of a data breach where customers allege negligence
  • Covers theft of personally identifiable information (PII), protected health information (PHI), payment card data and other sensitive digital assets
  • Covers costs of restoring and repairing computer systems and recovering lost data in the event of a cyber attack or ransomware incident
  • Covers business interruption costs such as loss of income if systems are compromised in a cyber attack
  • Covers liability if a third party contractor or vendor suffers a breach exposing your customer data
  • Covers regulatory fines and penalties from state and federal agencies in the event of a privacy law violation from a data breach
  • Covers legal fees associated with defending claims made against the company from customers, banks, or payment card brands in the event of a breach
  • Provides access to legal advisors and breach response services to help properly respond to an incident and meet compliance requirements
Use Cases
  • Data breaches involving the compromise of customer payment card and personal information
  • Costs associated with a data breach including forensic investigation, customer notification, credit monitoring services, call center support
  • Regulatory fines and penalties from security incidents
  • Legal expenses and settlements from lawsuits by customers, partners or regulators related to a data breach or privacy issue
  • Loss of business or reputational damage from a data incident
  • Revenue loss or income interruption due to network downtime or an inability to process transactions from a cyber attack or security incident

Based on analysis of typical pricing factors such as revenue size, cyber security practices, past cyber incidents, and industry risk level, the estimated average annual premium for a mid-sized credit card issuer with $500M-$1B in annual revenue would be around $100,000. The pricing is derived from standard insurance rate tables that take into account the industry’s high risk level due to mass storage of sensitive customer financial data and regular targeting by cyber criminals.

Estimated Pricing: $100,000

Employment Practices Liability Insurance

Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) is an important policy for businesses in the credit card issuing industry to protect against costly lawsuits related to various employment law claims. EPLI provides coverage for legal defense fees and damages if claims like wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment and other lawsuits are determined to have merit. It also helps companies maintain their reputation by defending against frivolous claims. Based on typical industry and company factors, the estimated average annual premium for an EPLI policy covering a medium sized credit card issuing business is around $7,500.

Category List
Benefits
  • Covers legal fees and costs associated with defending against wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, and other employment-related claims
  • Covers settlement costs if a claim is determined to have merit
  • Protects company’s reputation by defending against frivolous claims
  • Mitigates risk of financial loss from employee lawsuits
Use Cases
  • Wrongful termination lawsuits
  • Discrimination or harassment claims
  • Violation of privacy or civil rights
  • Failure to promote claims
  • Retaliation or whistleblower claims

Based on analyzing typical pricing factors such as industry risk level, employee headcount, annual revenue/payroll, claim history and jurisdiction, the estimated average annual premium for an EPLI policy covering a medium sized credit card issuing business with NAICS code 522210 is around $7,500. This factors in that financial services companies generally have moderate risk levels for employment practices liability claims while also accounting for operations across multiple states that impacts pricing.

Estimated Pricing: $7,500

Property Insurance

Property insurance is an important risk management tool for businesses in the credit card issuing industry. It can help protect their physical assets like buildings, data centers and specialized equipment from financial losses due to accidental damage or destruction by covered causes. Property insurance also provides liability coverage if a customer gets injured on the premises and business interruption coverage if operations are disrupted due to property damage. Estimated annual property insurance premium for a credit card issuer with $50 million in insured property values would be around $112,500.

Category List
Benefits
  • Covers repair or replacement costs if property is damaged or destroyed.
  • Provides liability protection if a customer is injured on your property.
  • Reimburses lost income if your operations are disrupted by a covered loss.
  • Covers equipment failures from mechanical breakdown or electronic system failures.
  • Covers theft of business property such as computers, servers, and customer data.
  • Insures property during transport or temporary off-premises storage.
  • Covers extra expenses to continue operations after covered equipment failures or property damage.
Use Cases
  • Protection against damage or loss to buildings from fire, lightning, hail, explosion, theft, falling objects etc.
  • Coverage for equipment and machinery against theft, damage or malfunction
  • Protection against business interruption if property is damaged and business operations are disrupted
  • Liability coverage if a client is injured on your premises
  • Replacement cost coverage to rebuild or repair property without deduction for depreciation
  • Extra expense coverage to pay for temporary relocation if a building needs repairs

Based on industry averages, property insurance for businesses in the credit card issuing industry with NAICS code 522210 typically costs between $1.50 to $3.00 per $100 of insured property value. Calculated at the midpoint of $2.25 per $100 and assuming $50 million in insured property values, the estimated annual property insurance premium would be $112,500.

Estimated Pricing: $112,500

Directors And Officers Liability Insurance

Directors and officers liability insurance (D&O insurance) provides important protection for companies and individuals in the credit card issuing industry against lawsuits and regulatory actions. It covers legal costs and damages from shareholder lawsuits, regulatory investigations, cyber incidents and other risks directors and officers may face due to their roles in the company. D&O insurance also protects company assets from being depleted by legal costs associated with lawsuits against directors and officers, and provides crisis management services in the event of incidents that damage reputation. As the financial services industry faces high compliance requirements, D&O insurance helps credit card issuers mitigate legal risks from shareholders, customers and data breaches.

Category List
Benefits
  • Protects directors and officers from personal liability in shareholder lawsuits
  • Covers legal defense costs if a lawsuit is filed against directors or officers
  • Protects company assets from being used to finance defense costs or pay settlement costs for lawsuits against directors and officers
  • Covers costs related to investigations by regulatory bodies like the SEC or CFPB
  • Provides crisis management services like public relations assistance if a lawsuit generates negative publicity
Use Cases
  • Protect directors and officers from legal costs if they are sued for a wrongful act or breach of duty related to their role
  • Cover costs to defend and indemnify directors and officers in shareholder lawsuits alleging mismanagement
  • Provide liability protection in regulatory actions and investigations by the CFPB, FDIC, OCC and other regulatory bodies
  • Cover costs and losses from data breaches, cyber attacks and privacy violations that result in lawsuits
  • Protect the company from costs associated with derivative lawsuits that allege harm to the company

Based on typical pricing models used by insurers, the average annual premium for D&O liability insurance for businesses in the credit card issuing industry (NAICS 522210) would be in the range of $75,000-$150,000. Factors that influence the pricing include the company’s annual revenue, market capitalization, number of directors and officers, prior claims history, and underwriting assessments of risk factors.

Estimated Pricing: $75,000-$150,000

Conclusion

In summary, general liability, cyber liability, EPLI, property and D&O insurance provide layered protection and peace of mind for credit card issuers. Carefully selecting coverage amounts helps ensure the business is protected against costly lawsuits, data breaches, property damage and more. Maintaining proper insurance is a smart risk management strategy for any credit card issuer.

Frequently Asked Questions

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