UPDATE – SEPTEMBER 19, 2026 11:30AM EST
We are pleased to report that 90% of all pending credits have now been posted to member accounts. Our team is continuing to work through the remaining exceptions, and we expect to have them posted by the end of the day.
We still have considerable work ahead of us before services are fully restored, but today we took an important first step toward recovery.
A tremendous amount of credit belongs to our staff for their tireless work and dedication. Several team members worked throughout the night so we could open our doors and serve our members this morning.
We will continue working through the weekend and beyond until all services have been restored.
Thank you again for your patience, understanding, and continued support.
UPDATE – SEPTEMBER 19, 2026 9:00AM EST
Dear Valued Member,
I know this has been a long and difficult interruption, and I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience it has caused.
We understand that the cornerstone of banking is trust. You place your money with us with the expectation that it will be safe, accurate, and accessible. While this interruption was not our fault, it is our problem – because it impacts you – our team has done everything possible to restore your access at the earliest opportunity.
I am pleased to report that we have regained access to our core processing system and can once again process transactions at our branches. Some of our team worked all night to post transactions and payrolls so they would be available this morning.
However, I also need to share some difficult news. Although our branches are operational, we are still working to post outstanding direct deposits, checks, and debit card transactions. As a result, your current balance may not yet reflect all recent activity.
I know your patience is wearing thin, but we need just a little more time to complete this work and bring all accounts fully up to date.
Today, Saturday, September 19:
- Our Neshannock Office will be open in both the lobby and drive-through.
- The drive-throughs at our Butler Avenue and Union branches will be open from 9:00 a.m. until noon. These branches will also provide telephone support.
For assistance, please call:
- Butler Avenue Branch: 724-656-3595
- Union Branch: 724-652-8393
Online and mobile banking remain unavailable. Technical teams continue working around the clock to restore these services and return us to full capacity. Restoring branch operations was the first priority, and we have been advised that online and mobile banking should follow soon. We will notify you as soon as those services become available.
We cannot thank you enough for your patience, kindness, and understanding. We know that many of you have had to make special arrangements because of this interruption, and we are deeply grateful for the grace you have shown our staff throughout this difficult situation. I do understand your frustration, but our team members are doing their very best to serve member needs.
We will continue to provide updates as additional services become available.
Sincerely,
Michael Vatter – CEO
First Choice Federal Credit Union
UPDATE – September 18, 2026 9:00AM EST
Services are still not fully operational. We are extremely optimistic for an update today. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding, as well as wait for complete services to be back to normal.
UPDATE – September 17, 2026 2:30PM EST
At noon on Tuesday, a hardware failure at one of our service provider’s data centers caused hundreds of credit unions east of the Mississippi to go offline.
This was not a cyberattack. No systems were hacked, and we have been assured that all member data remains secure.
Technical teams have now been working continuously for more than 56 hours to restore service. At this time, approximately 100 credit unions have been brought back online, and we are anxiously awaiting our turn.
We have been told that our branch capabilities will be restored first, followed by online and mobile banking. Although the recovery is being handled by our service provider, we remain in close contact with them and are doing everything within our control to prepare for the restoration of service.
I understand how disruptive and frustrating this outage has been, and I am deeply sorry for the significant inconvenience it has caused you and your families. As soon as I have meaningful new information to share, I will provide another update.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Sincerely,
Michael Vatter
First Choice Federal Credit Union
UPDATE – September 16, 2026 8PM EST: The technical and hardware issues are still not resolved for any customers of this vendor. We are still in contact with the vendor and technicians, but have not been given a solid ETA for services being back online. We still will operating with minimum services. Thank you for your patience.
Due to a server farm issue, many of the credit unions on the Eastern part of the United States are down.
We are very sorry for this inconvenience.
First Choice has been advised that crews are working very hard to fix this issue, and it should be taken care of as soon as humanly possible.
Please note – this is a hardware issue, not a malicious action
Please be advised this is NOT a hack or intrusion issue. According to the information given to us by our vendor, this is a server-based hardware issue. We were not alerted to take preventative actions, nor any other action that would cause us concern otherwise.
Next steps
We will update and advise our membership as the situation is repaired and every credit union goes live again.
Thank you for your patience, and we will be in touch.