Chili's restaurants were hit by a data breach, compromising customer credit card information
- Tex-Mex restaurant chain Chili's has been hit by a data breach.
- Its parent company has not yet confirmed how many customers have been impacted.
- At least 15 separate security breaches have occurred among retail companies since January 2017.
Tex-Mex restaurant chain Chili's is the latest retailer to be impacted by a data breach.
On Saturday, its parent company Brinkler International announced that customer credit and debit card information had been "compromised" in certain Chili's restaurants. It confirmed that no personal data such as social security numbers or dates of birth was breached since it doesn't collect this information.
The company made the announcement one day after it said it discovered the breach.
It has not yet confirmed how many people have been impacted, but the company said in a statement that it believes the breach was limited between March and April 2018. It's advising customers to monitor bank statements for strange transactions during that period.
Chili's joins a long list of retailers - including Sears, Kmart, Whole Foods, and Under Armour - that have been impacted by a data breach in the past year. The majority of the retailers that experienced a breach have not confirmed exactly how many customers were impacted.
Breaches have huge repercussions, often resulting in customers losing trust in the brands. According to a study from KPMG, 19% percent of consumers said they would stop shopping at a breached retailer, and 33% would take a long-term break.
This is bad news for Chili's as it has suffered from weak sales since 2008. In its most recent quarterly results, Brinkler reported that same-store sales at the location it owns fell by 0.4%. At its franchise restaurants, same-store sales fell by 3.2%.