Direct payments and deposits began flowing through central and southern Alberta credit union accounts once again Friday along with those across the Prairie provinces after transactions were stopped due to a vendor issue.
Account holders with connectFirst Credit Union, including the Servus Credit Union branches were affected, along with other credit unions in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
In a statement posted to social media on the morning of Saturday, Nov. 16, connectFirst once again offered an apology and gave an update on the situation.
“We sincerely apologize for the hardships caused by delays to direct deposits to and from accounts. Throughout the evening, we worked through the backlog and all transactions have now been processed.”
Anyone needing support with any impacts they've experienced are asked to reach out to Member Contact Services or visit their branch.
Servus Credit Union and connectFirst merged in May. There are connectFirst branches throughout Alberta including in Carstairs, Didsbury, Sundre, Olds, Cremona, Okotoks and Crossfield.
There are Servus Credit Union branches in Innisfail, Jasper, St. Albert, Westlock, St. Paul, Athabasca, Barrhead, Lac La Biche, Okotoks and High River, among other locations.
Several people commenting on the credit unions’ Facebook pages into the evening on Friday said that they still hadn’t received their paychecks at the end of the business day.
Earlier that morning, the credit unions used social media to alert the public of the transaction issues.
“Due to technical issues with a vendor, direct deposits to and from accounts are currently delayed for all Alberta credit union members. The vendor is working as quickly as possible to resolve these issues, but have not yet provided us with a timeline,” the credit union posted shortly before 11 a.m.
Saskatchewan and Manitoba credit unions also used social media as well as their websites to give similarly-worded notification Friday morning.
Early Friday afternoon, ConnectFirst and Servus gave another update.
“The technical issues that caused delays with direct deposits to and from accounts have been resolved. All scheduled transactions should be processed later today,” connectFirst Credit Union posted around 1 p.m.
It said provincial government payment portals were accessible at that time and working as expected.
“We recognize the difficulties these delays caused and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience or hardship.”
The credit unions maintain from its first notification that it is “committed to addressing all impacts and making things right for members.” That includes reversing or reimbursing “any fees incurred as a result of the delay,” it said.
