In May 2022, VyStar transitioned to a new, ’dysfunctional’ online banking platform that made it difficult for credit union members to perform basic banking functions for weeks, with some features unavailable for more than six months. Families incurred fees and costs as a result of these problems. VyStar is one of the largest credit unions in the country, with approximately $14.75 billion in total assets and over 980,000 members.The CFPB is ordering VyStar to ensure that all consumers are made whole. VyStar must also pay a $1.5 million civil penalty to the regulatory agency’s victims relief fund. “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,” says CFPB director Rohit Chopra. “VyStar’s careless errors inflicted financial harm on their credit union members.”The new system crashed upon launch because VyStar brought it online prematurely - despite warnings from its own development team - and failed to establish or follow critical processes to ensure its success, says Chopra. The platform was taken offline soon after launch. Upon bringing the system back online, the platform lacked key banking services, some of which were not restored for months.“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,” says Todd M. Harper, chairman of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). “These management failures resulted in consumer harm over the course of not just weeks but months, as well as safety and soundness problems like strategic, reputational, legal, and compliance risks.”