Retail store Kmart announced Friday it detected a data breach recently, adding it to the list of retailers that have had customers' bank and credit cards compromised in the past year.

Kmart is a part of Sears Holdings, which also operates Sears stores, who announced that they had detected a breach that began last month and certain credit and debit card accounts may have been hacked, The Associated Press reported.

The parent company, Illinois-based Hoffman Estates, is currently struggling with losses and sales declines as it fights to stay relevant with shoppers, AP reported.

Sears Holdings was unable to detect how many customers were affected through the payment data systems breach but said no personal information was taken.

No debit cards, PIN numbers, email address or Social Security information was breached by hackers, Sears Holding said, and the malware was successfully removed from the system.

But the breach is still being investigated by a security firm, Sears Holdings said. As with previous retailers, customers who shopped at Kmart from September through Oct. 9 can opt for free credit monitoring and will not be liable for any fraudulent charges on their accounts.

Retailers that have been hacked recently include Target, Supervalu and Home Depot.

The hack of Home Depot's systems was the largest reported in the past year in the U.S. and Canada, affecting 56 million debit and credit cards. Target's breach was the first and compromised 40 million credit and debit cards.

Since the Target breach, banks, retailers and credit card companies have increasingly moved toward an adoption of microchip cards, versus the traditional magnetic stripe cards.

Microchip cards are allegedly safer because they use a one-time code that moves between the chip and the retailer's register, rather than the customer's account number as is the case with magnetic stripe cards.

Computerworld reported that about 70 percent of credit cards, and 40 percent of debit cards will have microchips by the end of 2015.