Security incident causes online outage at Patelco Credit Union

Nearly half a million customers of a Bay Area credit union with reach across California were unable to access their money this weekend. They were unable to make online purchases or check their account balances because of a “serious security incident,” the company told customers.

Patelco Credit Union — based in Dublin, Alameda County, with several branches in the Capital Region — said it had shut down “some of our day-to-day banking systems” in the wake of the incident, the company’s president said in an email to customers on Sunday. The nature of the incident was not disclosed.

In the email, Erin Mendez, CEO and president of Patelco, wrote that the credit union has been working with cybersecurity experts since Saturday to understand the incident and restore online services, but it is still unclear when the issue will be resolved.

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“We want to inform you that a serious security incident occurred on June 29. We had to shut down some of our day-to-day banking systems so we could troubleshoot the issue and contain the impact, including online banking, our mobile app, and our call center,” Mendez wrote. “Currently, electronic transactions such as wire transfers (including Zelle), direct deposits, balance inquiries, and payments are unavailable.”

Mendez also said that “debit and credit card transactions are limited.” Customers complained on social media that they were unable to make withdrawals and debit transactions at certain ATMs and vendors. The company responded to them on X by saying that some ATMs should be available within the credit union’s larger Co-Op network, including “over 30,000 shared ATMs across the U.S.”

In the social media posts, the company admits: “Unfortunately, we cannot provide an estimated time of arrival when these systems will be running as expected.”

Patelco did not respond to a request for comment Sunday. The credit union, which began as a financial institution for Pacific Bell employees, has branches in Arden Arcade, Elk Grove, Folsom, Citrus Heights and Roseville.

The company said its 33 stores in the Bay Area and Capital Region were open Monday and “ready to assist as best we can during our regular business hours.”

Online customers seemed unimpressed by the answers.

One customer on Reddit said the outage began around 7 a.m. and only some customers were able to use ATMs at “partner branches.” “What should we do other than report it to the NCUA?” the customer asked online, referring to the National Credit Union Administration, which insures deposits at credit unions, similar to what the FDIC does for commercial banks.

One customer on X said: “It shouldn’t have taken your team 36 hours to respond with an official statement. And besides, no word about the security of our assets? Ridiculous.”

The company has continued to respond to its customers through its web platforms: “Rest assured that our teams are working to get this resolved as quickly as possible for our members. We understand this is an inconvenience and we sincerely apologize.”

Patelco is a nonprofit credit union founded in 1936 with more than 456,000 members “primarily in Northern California and the surrounding area” and assets of approximately $9 billion, according to the company.