UW Credit Union 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for VerifyU

If you bank with UW Credit Union in Wisconsin, you won't find a two-factor switch to turn on. Its two-factor authentication is called VerifyU, and it's built into Digital Banking (Web Branch): it steps in when UW Credit Union wants to confirm it's you (UW Credit Union). You answer a VerifyU challenge with a code from a phone call, a text message, an authenticator app, or a printed VerifyU Key (UW Credit Union). Unlike calls and texts, an authenticator app works without a phone signal. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the UW Credit Union steps come from UW Credit Union's own Help Center and website, linked below, which we read on October 19, 2026. We haven't tested them on a UW Credit Union account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

When VerifyU asks for a code

UW Credit Union lists three situations (UW Credit Union):

• you sign in from a computer or device it doesn't know,
• you sign in from outside the U.S., and
• you ask for something sensitive, such as linking an account at another bank (UW Credit Union).

VerifyU Settings also has an option to Require a VerifyU code every time I log in.

For sign-ins from abroad, UW Credit Union suggests an authenticator app or a VerifyU Key (UW Credit Union). Its help says an authenticator app "works even when you have no internet or cell coverage" (UW Credit Union), so you can get codes without a roaming plan.

Add an authenticator app to VerifyU

UW Credit Union's help gives these steps (UW Credit Union):

1. Sign in to Digital Banking at webbranch.uwcu.org.
2. Click the gear icon next to your name.
3. Select VerifyU Settings.
4. Click Set Up Authenticator App.

The help stops there, so it doesn't say whether the next screen shows a QR code, a text key or both. With Novaz:

• QR code: tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
• Text key: tap +, then Enter key manually. Type UW Credit Union as the Service and the key as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?

If UW Credit Union asks for a code to finish, type the current one from Novaz.

UW Credit Union doesn't publish how many digits its codes have or how often they change. A QR code passes those settings to Novaz; a typed key gets 6 digits every 30 seconds. So scan if you can.

An older help page, from March 2026, calls the same link Get the Google Authenticator App (UW Credit Union), so the wording on your screen may vary.

Print a VerifyU Key as your backup

UW Credit Union's help doesn't mention backup codes. The closest thing is the VerifyU Key: a printed sheet that works like a decoder for VerifyU challenges when you have no phone or internet service. To make one, click the gear icon, then VerifyU Settings, Set Up VerifyU Key and Generate A New VerifyU Key (UW Credit Union).

Novaz keeps its keys on your iPhone, with a copy only if you turn on iCloud backup or export a backup file, so print the key and store it away from your phone. Also keep your phone numbers current, since calls and texts are your other way in: click the gear icon, then your phone number, and finish with Save Phone Changes (UW Credit Union).

If UW Credit Union rejects your code

UW Credit Union's help doesn't cover rejected authenticator codes. The usual cause is the iPhone's clock: open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz also warns you when your clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Changing phones

UW Credit Union's help doesn't explain how to move the authenticator to a new phone. VerifyU Settings is the only place it mentions for it, so go there while your old phone still works, with your VerifyU Key at hand. With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can restore UW Credit Union on the new iPhone; without one, you'll add it to the new phone from scratch. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

• Answer VerifyU another way: a phone call, a text to one of your numbers on file, or your printed VerifyU Key (UW Credit Union).
• Forget your devices: if a phone, tablet or laptop is lost or stolen, UW Credit Union suggests the gear icon, then Lost or Stolen Device? and Forget All Devices.
• Call Member Service: 608-232-5000 or 800-533-6773, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. CT and Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (UW Credit Union). The help doesn't describe a VerifyU reset, what proof is needed, or how long it takes.

The help also doesn't describe removing an authenticator app from VerifyU. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Official UW Credit Union help

• Online Account Security
• Digital Banking Access
• Transfer with Another Bank or Credit Union
• Updating Contact Information
• Account & Card Security
• Contact Us