Blog

You don’t have to wait until spring to clean out your closets. The holiday season is the perfect time to get rid of gently used sweaters, coats and jackets your family no longer needs. As temperatures begin to drop, less fortunate families begin to feel the impact.

VyStar Credit Union is built on a foundation of people helping people. We exist to help our members by understanding their financial needs and helping them make good choices that will positively affect their financial situations. We always want to offer our members the best service available, delivered by the highest-quality employees.

They say the best things in life are free. Now, one of the best ways to safeguard your personal information against identity theft is free too. A new federal law was set in motion on September 21st, allowing everyone in the United States to freeze and unfreeze their credit at all three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) at no charge.

Since 1948, the third Thursday of every October has been recognized as International Credit Union (ICU) Day®: a day to celebrate the unique benefits credit unions provide to their members. On October 18th, VyStar and credit unions everywhere will be celebrating ICU Day’s platinum anniversary, a chance to look back after 70 years and be thankful for the lives and communities that have been improved by the unique principles and actions of the credit union movement.

Through a bug in the websites “view as” feature, Facebook recently exposed the personal information of nearly 50 million users, potentially exposing customers to identify theft and social media scams. In the wake of this news, we’d like to share the following steps on what you can do to safeguard your Facebook and other social media accounts...

Late last year, Google announced their intent to distrust Internet security certificates issued by Symantec due to Symantec’s failure to adhere to proper issuance standards. Other Internet security and technology companies—including Apple®, Safari® and Mozilla Firefox—announced their support for Google’s decision and declared that they will follow suit.

On September 13th, a new chapter and door opened at VyStar Credit Union’s Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS Jax) branch. Bryan Burt, a retired Navy Flight Officer and USO PathfinderSM Site Manager, held a ribbon cutting ceremony along with several USO, VyStar and NAS Jax Navy officials. A first for the state of Florida, VyStar and the USO Pathfinder program will be sharing space at the NAS Jax branch location to serve not only VyStar members, but also active duty sailors (as well as their family members) who are transitioning out of the military and into civilian life.

We had a record-breaking year for natural disasters in 2017, with 16 events totaling $306 billion, upending peoples’ lives across the United States. Disaster preparedness is essential as we head into peak hurricane season, especially if you live in an area prone to flooding, wildfires or tornadoes. Why?

When Gabi Bokretsion was in high school, little did she know that her participation in VyStar’s High School Credit Union Branch Program at Jacksonville’s Ribault High School would lead her to a career path in marketing. A few years later, while she was in college and needing a job, Gabi recalled her experience in the program with fondness and applied for a full-time position as a teller at VyStar’s Chaffee Pointe branch in 2015—a job for which she was quickly hired. Now, at age 23 and after graduating from the University of North Florida, Gabi was recently promoted to Marketing Specialist at VyStar’s Corporate Headquarters.

When your child—better yet, young adult—goes off to college, it’s an exciting but stressful time for the entire family. And with the expenses of tuition, room and board, text books, food, activities and other student necessities, it can also be a financially demanding time for parents. If you’re providing financial support for your college student, setting up a fast and easy way to send them cash can provide some much-needed relief in the hectic transition to college life.