Jacksonville, Florida. – As VyStar Credit Union members have been struggling to get information about their accounts for a week now, News4JAX has learned that the CEO has been on vacation.
credit union Online banking and mobile banking app are still down about a week after a The outage planned for last Friday. The credit union says everyone’s money and transactions are safe, but customers complain of inconvenience and sometimes inconsistent information.
On Friday, News4JAX reporter Ann Maxwell spoke to each one individually VyStar Credit Union Chief Experience Officer, Joel Swanson.
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UNCUT: Hit the play button below to watch the full interview with VyStar’s Chief Member Experience Officer
Maxwell: “What exactly is wrong with the new VyStar online and mobile banking platform?”
Swanson: “We had a transition planned this past weekend to move to a new online and mobile banking experience, and the goal was to provide an improved member experience for our members. Unfortunately, when it comes to life, we’ve run into some unexpected issues.”
Maxwell: “What are the issues?”
Swanson: “Initially we had some performance issues, and that’s the main issue we only had with some performance issues based on real world experiences with it.”
Maxwell: “Are you confident that online banking will work through let’s say next week?”
Swanson: “I can’t give you a time frame, but I can tell you that we’ve been working around the clock to develop the system as quickly as possible and we’ve made great progress.”
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Maxwell: “By June, perhaps, will it be ready?”
Swanson: “I am confident that the system will soon be ready for our members.”
MaxwellOne News4JAX Insider wrote on our website, ‘Can’t access chat, phones have long wait times and no one even mentioned that going to the branch costs about $5 a gallon just to get current credit. I mean, people are frustrated.’
Swanson: “And I apologize and take responsibility. I, on behalf of the entire senior leadership team, accept responsibility for the issues and inconveniences our members are experiencing during this time. But we are doing our best to staff our call center and branches to provide this service to members. We have back office team members across all around the company who went out and went to branches and got calls to try to answer the calls of members. However, I understand the frustration of some of the long wait times.”
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Maxwell: “Where’s the CEO?”
Swanson: “The CEO was on a planned trip in a really remote location when these issues happened. Once they happened, he and the entire VyStar leadership team were in constant communication and he was, he made plans and started moving back to Jacksonville and he’s on his way back now.”
Maxwell“Why did he not immediately fly to help?”
Swanson: “He was in a remote location and the logistics were difficult, he made plans right away and is already on his way back.”
Maxwell: “So he’s on vacation for a week? Has he been working on this since last Friday?”
Swanson“Our CEO was really on the journey when this started, he’s been in constant contact, and as we know in today’s world with remote work, he’s been incredibly engaged and engaged this whole time.”
Maxwell: “Where was?”
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Swanson: “I am unable to detect it.”
Maxwell: “When will he be back?”
Swanson“He’s on his way back now.”
Maxwell: “Last July, Nymbus, which has offices in this building, according to its website, due to its collaboration with VyStar, announced last July that VyStar had chosen Nymbus as its partner for online banking solutions. And mobile after a $20 million investment by VyStar back in April in a newly formed credit union service organization in Nymbus, and the website shows you are a member of the Nymbus Board of Directors?”
Swanson: gestures.
Maxwell: “Why did VyStar choose Nymbus and do they have experience in successfully implementing a banking system like this before?”
Swanson: “Yes, VyStar chose Nymbus after due diligence and evaluating the technology they bring to market. They have more than 25 other clients, including a US$50 billion bank that has successfully implemented solutions like this before but each application is unique.”
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Maxwell: “Is this like a completely new system? Has anyone else used this exact technology before?”
Swanson: “This system from Nymbus is used in banks and other credit unions, but the unique implementation we have here has nuances that are not in other applications.”
Maxwell: “Could it be a size issue or is there a problem with the code?”
Swanson: “Scale is definitely part of the problem.”
While we were at VyStar, we had credit union attendants accompany us through the work. We asked to stop at the Nymbus offices but were refused.
VyStar told us that Nymbus is not the only vendor working on this project. We are waiting to know the other people involved as well.
A Nymbus spokesperson released the following statement:
Nymbus is committed to providing our customers, partners and clients with the most innovative and reliable technology. The new VyStar Credit Union system is a complex multi-vendor project, and we continue to actively assess the situation in partnership with the credit union leadership team and all other vendors involved. We understand the burden this has placed on VyStar members, and our priority is to ensure that they get online access to their accounts as quickly as possible.”
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Meanwhile, VyStar said there are 40 to 50 people around the clock on this issue and that they have 900 people working in customer service.
We also asked VyStar about some specific issues we heard from some News4JAX insiders and viewers about transactions not working properly. The credit union, once again, said its platforms are accurate. It encourages anyone with specific issues to contact or visit a branch.
Members can also get credit with Magic*Touch by calling 6000-777 904 or 800-445-6289 and selecting Option 0. VyStar notes that members will need their own member ID to use this feature.
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