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The CFPB ordered the Jacksonville, Fla.-based VyStar Credit Union ($14.7 billion in assets, 997,469 members) to pay a $1.5 million civil penalty for the credit union's failed online banking system rollout in 2022.
On May 13, 2022 VyStar attempted to switch over to a new online and mobile banking platform. The brief outage, as explained to members, was planned to last for two days. The outage lasted for more than a week and systems were still not fully functional a month later. At the time, members were furious and posted tens-of-thousands of complaints on the credit union's Facebook page.
Thursday's action by the CFPB called VyStar's rollout "botched" and "dysfunctional."
"VyStar and its senior management bungled the credit union's rollout of a new banking system and left customers stranded without online access to their accounts," CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said. "VyStar's careless errors inflicted financial harm on their credit union members."
The CFPB's order requires VyStar to:
- Refund fees to affected consumers: VyStar must ensure that the fees charged to its members as a result of the outage have been refunded, and reimburse any outstanding third-party fees or costs, including interest costs, imposed on members as a result of the outage.
- Clean up its broken process for updating its systems: For future updates to its banking systems, VyStar must create contingency plans to minimize the impact on consumers' ability to use its banking platform. The plans must include sufficient customer service resources to address consumer problems, and ensure upgrades and maintenance for consumer-facing banking systems are performed in a timely manner.
- Pay a $1.5 million fine: VyStar will pay a $1.5 million civil penalty to the CFPB's victims relief fund.
The NCUA Board has issued statements from two of the three members rebuking VyStar.
NCUA Board Chairman Todd Harper said, "Credit unions must prioritize their members, yet VyStar's due diligence fell far short of what was required for completing a successful conversion of the credit union's mobile and online banking platforms."
CU Times Senior Reporter Peter Strozniak will have a full story coming soon with statements from VyStar, the NCUA and details of the action taken against the credit union.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
