U.S. Credit union Patelco limits transactions due to security breach issue

SAN FRANCISCO, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Patelco Credit Union, the third-largest credit union in the San Francisco Bay Area, the U.S. state of California, reported a significant security breach over the weekend, leading to the shutdown of its banking systems, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle on Monday.

Erin Mendez, Patelco's president and CEO, confirmed in an email to customers on Sunday that essential transactions, such as Zelle transfers, direct deposits and balance inquiries, were unavailable. The debit and credit card functions were also limited.

"On June 29, we experienced a serious security incident. This required us to shut down some of our day-to-day banking systems so that we can remediate the issue and contain the impact, including online banking, our mobile App, and our call center," Mendez wrote.

"Unfortunately, we are unable to provide an ETA on when those systems will be running as expected," she added.

The institution assured that branches and customer service channels would operate normally on Monday to assist members.

According to the company, Patelco operates 37 branches with nearly 10 billion U.S. dollars in assets and half a million clients.