VIENNA, Va. – Telephone systems and online banking at Navy FCU were back on yesterday, a day after the world’s largest credit union lost a brief battle with Mother Nature.
Violent thunderstorms in northern Virginia knocked out electric power at the $36 billion credit union’s headquarters early Tuesday, which briefly shut down the credit union’s main processing system and snapped phone service connecting to the credit union giant’s call centers and worldwide branch network.
As a result, members were unable to conduct transactions over the phone or via Navy Fed Online, according to Jennifer Sadler, spokeswoman for the credit union. “The branch offices could conduct transactions if the member came in,” she said.
When storms knocked out power at the region’s electric utility, Dominion Power, Navy Fed’s huge mainframe computer, an IBM z series, immediately shut down, while four 1,000 kilowatt back-up generators were activated at the headquarters, according to the credit union’s disaster recovery plan.
In the meantime, core processing tasks were transferred to the credit union’s back-up data center in nearby Winchester, Va., according to Sadler.
The power outage, however, also knocked out local phone service, affecting communications with Navy Fed’s Winchester and Pensacola, Fla., call centers. “So it was kind of a double whammy,” said Sadler.
“You do what you always plan to do for your back-up plan, then Mother Nature takes over,” Sadler told The Credit Union Journal.
It took several additional hours to get the systems back online as staff reviewed the integrity of members’ data. All systems were repaired by the start of business on Wednesday.
Member deposits and debits were posted on time overnight, as usual, and all accounts were safe and secure, Sadler added.
