OMC Card Inc., a consumer credit firm affiliated with retailer Daiei Inc., said Wednesday it has lost 126 letters from customers containing personal data, including credit card numbers, addresses and phone numbers.
The customers, who all live in the Kansai region, sent in the letters asking the Tokyo-based firm to settle payments to Kansai Electric Power Co. through their OMC Card accounts.
OMC Card said the letters were probably mistakenly disposed of during sorting at its business management center.
It said it is dispatching staff to the homes of all 126 customers to apologize and will issue new cards to those who want to change their credit card numbers.
OMC Card said 605 application letters arrived on July 24 and personal data were subsequently inputted into a computer network via a company under contract to OMC Card before the letters were sent to Kansai Electric's account-transfer service center on July 28.
Following an inquiry the following day from Kepco, which realized the number of letters did not match the information provided, OMC Card discovered that one of the seven batches of letters was missing.
The company said it is also investigating the possibility that the letters were lost during delivery.