German banks have recalled thousands of credit cards after a suspected data theft.
Credit firms Visa and Mastercard warned banks that an alleged data theft at a Spanish payment processor could have compromised customers' details.
They suggested any cards used in Spain during the summer months should be exchanged.
Dominik Georgi from the Frankfurt School of Finance says that the situation was foreseeable.
"At the end of the day we can see that credit cards have been used a lot more in the past years, which of course increases the chances of such a fraud situation," said Georgi.
Affected customers will be able to claim any money back and increased security is to remain in place until customers have received their new cards.
"One should not forget that at the end of the day there are no risks to the cardholder as long as they take certain precautions including not taping the pin number to the card, looking closely at the bills and if something happens then they should complain to their bank immediately," says head of MasterCard Deutschland, Peter Emke.
The German Volks and Raiffeisen banks have already removed some 60,000 cards from circulation.
The exchange is expected to cost banks up to €1 million.
AP