A couple from Portuguese Cove, N.S., says a credit union lost $10,000 of their money for a month, and still has no explanation why.

Alexandria White said it started with an attempt to help her mother, who faced an unexpected financial challenge at home in California.

"It was our hard-earned money to send to my mom because she's going through some hard times," said White. "We figured, let's help her out."

Wire transfer wait

On June 17, White's husband, Stephen, sent a wire transfer for $10,000 from his business account at the Credit Union Atlantic branch on Herring Cove Road. 

When the money failed to arrive, White said they began to worry.

But she said the credit union, known simply as CUA, couldn't help. 

"They said they can't trace the money until the two-week mark," White said. 

She said her mother got no help from her local credit union branch in the U.S.

"The person on the phone that she was speaking to said, 'I'm actually quite embarrassed to talk about it, but it does take some time for the money to get to you because the money goes from bank to bank to bank to bank,'" White said. 

Missing money

Eventually, White sent another $10,000 wire transfer to her mother — this time from her account at TD. 

That reached her mother in three days.