We’re conducting an internal systems upgrade to modernize and improve our infrastructure.

The upgrade started at 4pm Friday, May 15th and will run through Monday, May 18th. 

We’re modernizing and improving the internal systems used by our employees, as opposed to member-facing systems such as Online & Mobile Banking or ATMs

Our employees will be able to provide members better service in terms of speed and efficiency. In addition, the upgraded systems will make it possible for us to develop additional features and services in the future, such as new tools and functionality for Online & Mobile Banking.

The upgrade started at 4:00 pm on Friday, May 15th and will run through Monday, May 18th.

Any wire transfers submitted before the cutoff time on Friday, May 15th will be processed as normal.

The cutoff time for International Wire Transfers is 11 am (Pacific), and 12:30 pm for Domestic Wire Transfers.

Wire transfers submitted after the cutoff time will be processed on Tuesday, May 19th.

That’s right. Everything other than your account numbers will stay the same, including:

• Your Member Number (with a string of zeroes added at the beginning)
• Your existing Direct Deposits (even with updated account numbers, your existing deposits, even Federal Stimulus Payments, will continue to post to your account)
• Your ATM/Debit & Credit Cards
• Your 14-digit Check ID number (often used for direct deposit & other electronic transactions)
• Your Overdraft Protection choices

No, Online & Mobile banking will be unavailable from 4:00 pm on Friday, May 15th through Monday, May 18th.

Yes, you can use your ATM/Debit Card or your Platinum Visa® Credit Card at any ATM or merchant.

Any Bill Pay transactions or transfers to other banks or credit unions you already scheduled will run as normal on Monday, May 18th; they aren’t regularly processed on weekends.

Transfers to other members of SF Fire Credit Union you scheduled for either Saturday, May 16th or Sunday, May 17th will run on Monday, May 18th.

Yes. Our branches will be closed Saturday, May 16th, and Monday, May 18th.

The Contact Center will be open normal hours on Saturday and Monday, but with limited ability to access and service your accounts.

Please plan on making any urgent transfers prior to 4:00 pm Friday, May 15th.

The vast majority of members will not see changes to their Online & Mobile Banking logins. There are a few members with unusual circumstances where a change might be needed. We sent these members a Secured Message with all the details.

You should still know where to find your account number itself, in case you need to update any information such as for your direct deposit. You’ll always find this information by clicking on the account in Online Banking and Mobile Banking App and selecting Account Details.

For existing direct deposits and payments, you don’t need to do a thing.

But if you need to set up a NEW direct deposit or add an automatic payment for a NEW merchant, be sure to use your NEW account number, or the 14-digit Check ID Number from your checks.

Yes. There will be no impact on our ability to process and deposit Federal Coronavirus Stimulus Direct Deposit payments before or after the upgrade. If you are eligible to receive the stimulus package, you do not need to do anything in order to receive these funds.

No. Your membership number is staying the same but is now officially identified as a ten-digit number, with a string of zeroes at the beginning.

Examples:

• “100000” becomes “0000100000”
• “99999” becomes “0000099999”
• “99” becomes “0000000099”

Accounts opened after the upgrade will have the same basic structure (member number plus four digits), but the four digits will be noticeably different. For example, a checking account opened before the upgrade will have a number of 0010, while a checking account opened later will have an account number of 3000.

For a comparison, check out the graphs included above under What’s Changing & What’s Staying the Same

No. Your checks and ATM/debit and credit cards do not need to be replaced.

Yes. Any transfer to outside institutions that you set up through the Transfers tool in Online & Mobile Banking will be processed as normal on the next scheduled transfer date.

You might notice a change to the options for making a payment on your Visa Credit Card. The choices on the Transfer screen will now include a “Pay Down” option, in addition to the “Last Statement Balance,” “Minimum Payment,” or “Past Due” options.

You might notice a difference between the “Pay Down” amount and the actual current balance you see on the Dashboard or your Transaction History. This is because the “Pay Down” option automatically calculates and includes any finance charges (interest) that might have accrued between the last statement date and the date you are making the payment. Accruing finance charges aren’t posted until the bill cycle date; this Pay Down feature takes  care of them ahead of time.

You will see changes to your regular End-of-Month Statement, your Visa Statement, and your Home Equity Line of Credit Statement. You will not see any changes to statements for your First Mortgages, Business Loans, Student Loans through our partnership with Student Choice, or any investment accounts you have through CUSO Financial Services.

For your End-of-Month Statement (for checking and savings account transactions):

For the month of May only, you will receive two statements, one listing your transactions which post by 4:00 PM on Friday, May 15th, and another statement listing your transactions for the remainder of the month. The first statement will look just like your prior statements, but will not reflect any dividends earned for your savings accounts. The second statement will reflect your new account numbers and will reflect all dividends earned for the month.

If you receive your statements in the mail, you’ll get both of these statements in one envelope at the end of the month. For e-Statements, you will see both statements combined in a single PDF.

For your mid-month statements, such as for the Visa Credit Card or Home Equity Lines of Credit:

You will receive one statement as normal after June 15th. This will list all transactions since the previous statement, regardless of whether they posted before or after the upgrade. You may notice some variation in the transaction descriptions, but all the important information will be retained: amount paid, date, and merchant name or description. You will see the new four-digit account numbers used.

If you are the primary owner on a membership, you will not see any changes to how you view your statements in Online & Mobile Banking, nor will there be any changes to the statements you receive in the mail. However, joint owners or authorized users will no longer have a copy of the statement retained in their own Online & Mobile Banking profile.

Automatic payments to your loans at the Credit Union that would normally run on Saturday or Sunday will be processed on Monday, May 18th. Otherwise, there will be no impact.

The schedule of your automatic payments to merchants will not be changed, as these are not processed on weekends. They will be made as usual on your next scheduled payment date.

The only change you might need to make is if you used a savings account number for these payments, rather than the 14-digit Check ID number.

While we won’t be able to review or complete your application during the systems upgrade, all your information will be retained, and the review process will be completed as normal after the upgrade is complete.

While we won’t be able to review or complete your application during the systems upgrade, all your information will be retained, and the review process will be completed as normal after the upgrade is complete.

While we won’t be able to complete the funding of the loan during the systems update, all your information will be retained. Funding will be completed as normal after the upgrade is complete, as early as Tuesday, May 19th for loans you applied for online or directly with an SF Fire Credit Union representative or Wednesday, May 20th for any indirect loans, such as a loan for a new or used car at a dealership that participates in the Credit Union Direct Lending Program.

We’re changing how you make certain types of payments online, but nothing is changing in terms of your loan. You’ll still find the important details – transaction history, tax details, automatic payment management, ect. – within the Loan Administration Center, which you access by clicking the “View Transactions” link for your Mortgage from the account list.

Any payments you want to make other than the regular monthly payment will now be made via the Loan Administration Center. Examples of such payments:

• An ‘Additional Principal payment’
• A custom payment for an amount other than the regular amount due
• Additional payments to your escrow account

To make such a payment, you’ll follow these steps:

• Click View Transactions for your Mortgage to reach the Loan Administration Center
• Click Making Payments

Making Payments defaults to the Online Payments function, which lets you make a one-time regular payment, make a payment to the principal balance only, make an additional payment to an escrow account, or any combination of those choices. Follow the onscreen steps to set up and initiate your payment.

To set up or edit automatic payments:

• Click View Transactions
• Click Making Payments
• Click Payments/Automatic Payments from the menu at the top

You can still make the regular monthly payment to your mortgage directly through the Transfers section of Online & Mobile Banking.