Skipton apologises after printing error

3 Feb 2010

Skipton Building Society has apologised after a printing error led to the names and account details of more than 3,000 customers being revealed to other members.

The building society said an error by a third party led to details of 3,115 customers with passbook accounts being printed on the back of other member's statements in a recent mailing.

Skipton said the affected customers were not at risk of fraud as the accounts could not be accessed on the internet and a signature was needed for anyone to make a withdrawal.

Despite this, it has written to all affected customers, apologising and offering them a new account number for additional peace of mind.

A Skipton spokesman said: "The details did not include the other customers' address, date of birth or other identifying details. The risk to affected customers is negligible because of this.

"Nevertheless, we have written to those affected to apologise and to reassure them that the correspondence contained insufficient information to enable any unauthorised transactions on their accounts.

"We are also offering to change the account numbers of any customers seeking additional peace of mind."

The incident affected 3,115 people out of a mailing list of 108,000 customers who were being sent an annual account summary.