Japanese bank loses 1 million records.

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Resona, a major Japanese bank, reported that it lost transaction records on about 980,000 customers--a new record for data loss among the country's banks.

According to a report by the Yomiuri Shimbun, a routine audit of transaction data revealed that records of automated teller machine use, withdrawal and deposit slips, and copies of tax payments were missing from 27 Resona branches, including the branch located in the Diet building, which houses Japan's lawmakers.

The bank said it had not received any reports of illegal use of the information or withdrawals of cash, and the missing records did not contain customers' passwords. However, the information lost did include names, account numbers, and transaction details, a bank official said. Yomiuri Shimbun did not report whether the lost records were digital or paper and did not say what forms of digital storage media the bank uses.

Details of Resona's problems were first discovered at the end of last year, when the branches transferred the materials to control centers in Tokyo and Osaka, officials said. If the reported numbers are correct, the 980,000 Resona customers affected would exceed the 960,000 customers put at risk when the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ lost data in October 2006.