Vancity online banking issue resolved, branches remain open

Vancity repairs online banking glitch After a three-day outage, Vancity Credit Union’s online banking system is finally coming back online.

Saturday was the third day in a row to begin with Vancity Credit Union members unable to access their accounts online, but by 3:15 p.m., the bank had resolved the issue and begun gradually bringing the system back online.

The system went down at midnight Thursday. Vancity confirmed on Friday that it had not been hacked, but was unable to explain what, specifically, had caused the outage.

On Saturday, the exact cause of the incident was still unclear.

“We operate a whole host of different systems and we suspect it has something to do with the interface between the multiple systems, but we’re still working hard to get to the bottom of it,” Vancity CEO Tamara Vrooman told CTV News. “One thing I do know is we will get to the bottom of it. It’s very important that we understand what happened so that it never happens again.”

Vrooman reiterated that the problem had not been a privacy or security breach, meaning members’ data and personal information were never in danger. She also apologized to the bank’s customers for the length of the disruption.

“Part of the reason it’s taken so long for us to come back online is we needed to test against the scenario that took it down in the first place,” Vrooman said.

During the outage, Vancity reached out to major institutions that members might have outstanding bills with to ensure that they would not be charged late fees. Vrooman said Vancity would pay any penalties its members incurred as a result of the outage.

The restoration of service will no doubt provide relief to customers who have struggled to check balances, make transfers, and pay bills during the outage, but experts told CTV News the incident may have already damaged the bank’s reputation.

“Banks and credit unions depend so much on the abstract benefit of trust between the consumers and the company,” said Steven Kates, of Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business. “If that trust is eroded, the brand will suffer.”

“This is ideal for their competitors,” said Lindsay Meredith, also a professor at SFU and the Beedie School. “The other banks will happily move in and poach. They will pick off any of those customers who have become disenchanted.”

Across the region, Vancity branches were busier than usual on Saturday, with customers seeking answers about the outage.

“It’s a struggle, right?” said Devin Icoz outside of the Vancity branch on Commercial Drive. “You need money to get around.”

As the bank’s IT team worked to fix the problem on Friday, the company announced that all of its branches would be open from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day of the Thanksgiving long weekend, including Sunday and Monday. The credit union’s “member services centre” - a call centre - will also be open all weekend, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

In a memo sent to staff Friday, Vrooman thanked employees for their willingness to work the extra hours to keep branches open over the weekend. Another memo - sent by Vice President Nezihe Aquino - said that those employees already scheduled to work over the weekend would receive one-and-a-half times their normal pay. Those who had not been scheduled to work, but volunteered to do so, will receive three times their normal pay.

Vrooman also recorded a video message to Vancity customers, in which she sought to reassure them that their personal data was safe and to apologize for the outage.

“Clearly, three days of a system outage is not what we would expect, it’s not what you’d expect, and it’s not good enough,” Vrooman said. “I apologize for the inconvenience that I know this is placing on our members. You have my personal assurance that when this is done, we’ll make it right, and make you whole for any penalties or service charges you’ve incurred.”

For Icoz, the long outage makes it more difficult to trust the bank’s services.

“Vancity’s got to get their s--t together, if you ask me,” he said.

Laura Perry and Nate Welland, owners of Lüna Coffee, expressed similar concerns.

“Thursday morning we were trying to access it, and we thought, ‘OK, a few hours,’” Welland said of his reaction when he discovered the outage. “Now, it’s been days.”