Japan on Friday urged the US government to swiftly provide Japan with information on the massive theft of credit card data at a US data-processing company.

Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa made the request while meeting with US Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer, According to Kyodo News. The two shared the view that the widespread card data abuse is a "very serious" matter.

The US ambassador told Nakagawa that Washington will update Tokyo with the latest available information, although the scope of information may be limited so as not to obstruct investigations conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Kyodo said.

The minister said he will dispatch ministry officials to the United States as soon as possible to discuss measures to deal with the card data theft with their counterparts at the US government.

Earlier in the day, Nakagawa said at a press conference that US cardholders may be affected by an incident in Japan next time. "We have to bridge gaps between the two countries in terms of computer security systems and related legislation," he said.

Losses caused by illicit use of major-brand credit card information in Japan have reached nearly 130 million yen (1.2 million US dollars) as of Friday, according to data Kyodo collected from Japanese credit card companies.

Source: Xinhua