First Tech Federal Credit Union’s new two-factor authentication causes issues for some members

If you’re among the First Tech Federal Credit Union members receiving a generic “There was a problem submitting your request” error message after trying to do virtually anything on the credit union’s site or app, the solution is simple. Enable something other than email for your First Tech two-factor authentication (2FA) method.

The problem is rooted in First Tech Federal Credit Union’s new two-factor authentication policy that no longer allows users to receive verification codes through email. Because First Tech failed to notify their members of this change, many still have email set as their only two-factor authentication method. This results in the user not being able to complete many actions, including updating their 2FA settings, adding a Zelle recipient, updating contact information, adding an external bank account, and activating a debit card. Unfortunately, these are real examples of issues that I faced with First Tech Federal Credit Union’s app and desktop and mobile sites over the course of a few days.

The generic error message received, which is literally defined as “ShortGeneralErrorMessage”, according to First Tech’s source code, was of no help. Many First Tech Federal Credit Union members have been impacted by this new two-factor authentication policy and their technical issues could have been resolved more quickly had they received a user-friendly error message that explained that another form of verification needed to be enabled. If First Tech communicated the changes to members in the first place, the issue likely wouldn’t be as widespread as it is.

The irony that their name is First Tech Federal Credit Union is not lost on me, and frankly, that compounded my frustration with the credit union that I had just joined.