Frustration continues as N.B. credit union works to fix online banking disruptions

Problems continued Wednesday for some customers of a New Brunswick credit union that faced major hiccups after making changes to its online banking platform.

A steady stream of people walked into and out of the UNI Financial Cooperation in Fredericton at around noon, with some there in the hopes of solving issues ranging form not being able to access their accounts online, to their bank card not working at point of sale machines.

They're issues being felt by UNI clients across the province for the third day in a row.

"The frustration of nothing working," is what brought Jessica Courty to the branch on Regent Street.

"It's been four days that I have zero access to my banking account, can't do any transfers or receive them, or know how much I have in my bank account right now."

Courty said she considered herself lucky she's off work in the summer and had the time to go to the bank in person while it was open.

"I can only imagine people that have kids or jobs and you cannot really come during the hours that they are open. It would have been like another level of frustration."

UNI, also known as Caisse populaire, is a credit union headquartered in Caraquet serving about 180,000 customers.

After years of relying on Desjardins Group for its online banking platform, the company decided to launch its own, CEO Robert Moreau, said in an interview.

About 155,000 customers were supposed to transition to the new platform on July 6, but bumps in the process led to problems for customers across the province, with cards not working and people not being able to access their online accounts.

"It could be very technical on the card itself," Moreau said. "It can be that [with] the personal identification number, they don't have it, they lost it or it's not working properly," Moreau said.

Moreau said not all customers are experiencing those issues, adding that "most transactions" are happening properly across its system.

Moreau didn't offer a timeline for addressing issues for affected customers, noting that UNI is learning about some problems only as clients come forward with them.

"Some of it, you deal [with it] as it comes," he said. "Then you get into efficiency, so if we see ... too many of a certain complaint then we we get to address that."