Centennial Bank class actions allege data breach impacted customer info

Centennial Bank class action overview: 

• Who: Customers filed a pair of separate class action lawsuits against Centennial Bank. 
• Why: An April 2023 Centennial Bank data breach compromised the personal information of current and former customers.
• Where: The Centennial Bank class action lawsuits were filed in federal court in Arkansas.

A pair of customers filed separate Centennial Bank class action lawsuits after a company data breach compromised the information of current and former customers.

The Centennial Bank data breach occurred in April 2023, but the company allegedly did not begin to notify the individuals who had their information compromised until April 19, 2024, the class actions claim.

Centennial Bank has locations in Arkansas, Florida, Alabama, Texas and New York. Compromised information included full names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, bank account numbers, security codes and health insurance information.

Centennial Bank concluded an investigation into the data breach on March 29, according to the lawsuits.

“Defendant failed to adequately protect plaintiffs and class members [Personal Identifiable Information] PII–and failed to even encrypt or redact this highly sensitive information,” one of the Centennial Bank data breach lawsuits says. “This unencrypted, unredacted PII was compromised due to Defendant’s intentional, reckless, negligent and/or careless acts and omissions and its utter failure to protect customers’ sensitive data.”

Centennial Bank data breach was second since July 2022

Centennial Bank had a separate data breach in July 2022 that compromised the personal information of 17,000 customers, according to the lawsuits. It allegedly did not send letters until April 2023 about that data breach.

“Hackers targeted and obtained plaintiffs and class members’ PII because of the information’s value in exploiting and stealing the identities of plaintiff and class members,” the Centennial Bank class action says. “The present and continuing risk to victims of the Data Breach will remain for their respective lifetimes.”

Centennial Bank data breach victims face the ongoing risk of identity theft and financial fraud along with a higher than normal risk of facing a variety of identity theft crimes, the lawsuits say. Customers will need to continue to closely monitor credit, financial accounts and email accounts more than otherwise due to the increased threat to their identity.

In 2023, Centennial Bank agreed to a $730,000 now-closed lawsuit settlement to resolve claims it violated mortgage agreements with force-placed insurance policies.

Were you impacted by the Centennial Bank data breach? Let us know in the comments.

Karen Hughes’ class is represented by Christopher D. Jennings of Jennings PLLC and Jeff Ostrow of Kopelowitz Ostrow Ferguson Weiselberg Gilbert.

Stephanie Martin’s class is represented by William B. Federman of Federman & Sherwood.

The Centennial bank class action lawsuits are Hughes v. Centennial Bank, Case No. 4:24-cv-00392-JM, and Martin v. Centennial Bank, Case No. 4:24-cv-00389-BSM, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas Central Division.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• City of Hope data breach leads to multiple class action lawsuits
• Kaiser Permanente data breach may affect 13M+ patients
• UnitedHealthcare data breach leads to class action lawsuit
• New Roku data breach announced for second time in a month