VyStar says online banking up and working, but mobile still down and delays persist

VyStar Credit Union fixed an ongoing issue with its online banking platform on the 11th day after the site was shut down for what was supposed to be the weekend.

Service returned to online banking Tuesday afternoon, the credit union said in a news release. Mobile banking, however, was still not available. And at least some customers logging in to the credit union's website were greeted with a high-traffic message. Some customers were told there were thousands of people ahead of them in line to log in.

VyStar CEO Brian Wolfburg told the Florida Times-Union at the time of the news release that the website would be capping the number of people who could get on at a time for a while to ensure the systems continue to work as they should. He said about 200 new logins will be allowed every minute.

"We know what an inconvenience this has caused and how it impacted our members," he said. "We are immensely sorry. This is something that weighs heavily on us."

Online banking went live at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Wolfburg said, and the service anticipates a backlog of individuals trying to log in. He said he wasn't sure how long it would take for this to wane but that VyStar will stop throttling the number of people able to sign on at a given time when it does.

"We’ll have the ability to open the door more over time," he said. 

Wolfburg did not have an exact timeline for when mobile banking would be available again, but he said he hopes for it to be up by next week. In the meantime, the online platform should be available to work on most devices.

VyStar began a scheduled, two-day outage to convert to a new system on May 13 but ran into problems, said a VyStar spokesperson. Online and mobile banking have been unavailable since then.

VyStar said the outage had nothing to do with a cyber attack, which customers expressed concerns about, and said "all funds and personal data remain safe."

Reaction:  VyStar denies cyber attack theories as customers react on social media to ongoing outage

11 days of outage:VyStar Credit Union mobile banking enters 11th day without service

The outages were caused by “several issues during the conversion process,” and VyStar took the online and mobile banking platform offline “to investigate and find a resolution as quickly as possible.”

VyStar also said it will be refunding fees incurred as a result of the platform being down, including those for insufficient funds, overdrafts and late fees, from May 14 through May 24.

Still, some customers online said they will no longer bank at VyStar, even after the online banking platform returned.

Wolfburg said he saw the social media comments and feedback from the community and hopes members remember VyStar's 70-year history when deciding whether or not to close their accounts. He said he did not have exact numbers of how many accounts were closed in the last couple of days but that the numbers "are stable" for a normal, monthly basis.

"I’m really happy that online banking [is up] right now," Wolfburg said. "We’ve really been able to pull together as a team and fix our mistake. This was a mishap. It shouldn’t have happened. This isn’t what we wanted, but stuff doesn’t always go as planned."

For those who may still be experiencing issues still, VyStar said customers can access their account information by:  

• Using Magic*Touch 904-777-6001 or 800-235-6289 
• By visiting VyStar ATMs and branches 
• Calling the contact center at 904-777-6000 or 800-445-6289, available every day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily