A local court on Friday ordered three credit card-related companies, hit by a massive data leak in 2014, to give 100,000 won ($83) to each victim, a ruling that could set a precedent for other similar lawsuits.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of a total of some 5,000 customers who filed four separate suits against KB Kookmin Card Co., NH Nonghyup Card Co., and a credit rating agency, the Korea Credit Bureau.

In 2014, some 100 million clients' personal data, including bank account numbers, addresses and credit ratings, had been leaked from three card issuers -- KB Kookmin Card Co., NH Nonghyup Card Co. and Lotte Card Co. An employee from KCB was found to have stolen the sensitive personal information. 

"The credit card firms provided a cause for the data leak by not abiding by the law to protect personal information and the KCB failed to fulfill its duty to supervise its workers," the court said.

There are some 80 similar cases, including ones against Lotte, pending at the Seoul court alone as of 2014, officials said. (Yonhap)