IRVING, TX – Last month, Genseco sued Visa in the Tennessee U.S. District Court over $13 million in assessments and non-compliance fees that the card company had levied against the global retailer, SwitchCommerce.com reports.

It was the first known case to dispute credit card company fines based on the PCI-Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS) set by the Payment Card Industry.

Visa had levied those fees against Fifth Third Financial and Wells Fargo, banks that were responsible for processing credit card information. While the banks paid the fines, they sought reimbursement from Genesco as part of an agreement of indemnification.

The fines resulted from a cyber attack in December 2010 that compromised customer data managed by Genesco. 

According to Genesco’s complaint, Visa did not have the right to decide whether Genesco complied with its PCI standards and that stolen cardholder data did not lead to money stolen from consumer accounts as a result of the hacking effort. 

The case is being closely watched. If Genesco is successful, the card companies will have less leverage in assessing PCI fines in the future.