http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/reuters/REU19991213S0005

U.S. Banking System Deemed Y2K-Ready (12/13/99, 5:30 p.m. ET)

By Reuters

ATLANTA -- U.S. banking officials on Monday dismissed concerns that ATMs, credit cards, and other forms of electronic payment would malfunction during the transition to the year 2000.

Federal and state regulatory agencies said they are satisfied that all 10,200 banks andthrifts in the United States have upgraded their computer systems to prepare for Y2K.

"We're recommending that people treat the New Year's weekend just as they would any other normal holiday weekend and they make their cash decisions based on that premise," said Jack Guynn, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta president and CEO.

Guynn said the Federal Reserve Board has ensured that $200 billion is available in its inventory to meet any conceivable request for cash, although he said it did not expect that need to be significant.

The Fed also said it has established special lending facilities across the United States, allowing it the flexibility to step in as the lender of last resort if a bank or other depository institution faces the possibility of a liquidity crisis or panic.

Regulators reminded consumers they would be able to rely on the guarantees provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) if "glitches" did occur in the banking system.

The FDIC, created in 1933 during the Great Depression to restore and maintain confidence in the banking system, insures deposits up to $100,000. The agency's two major insurance funds total almost $40 billion.

FDIC chairman Donna Tanoue said consumers who stockpiled cash would be taking an unnecessary risk. A Gallup poll released last summer showed 25 percent of the public planned to make large cash withdrawals in the run-up to Y2K.

"That is not a good idea," Tanoue said. "Money is safe in an FDIC-insured deposit account. No one has ever lost a penny of FDIC-insured funds and no one ever will, but anyone who carries a lot of cash or keeps it at home puts it at risk of being stolen."

She said people should hang onto financial records, balance checkbooks, and remain wary of scams designed to prey on Y2K fears.

Although federal officials said they still fear some consumers will not heed their advice, they said surveys show 90 percent of respondents believe banks are prepared for 2000.

Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall be not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

-- Uncle Bob (UNCLB0B@AOL.COM), December 13, 1999

Answers

"There will be system failures, especially in large, old, richly interconnected 'systems of systems' as exist in the financial services and government sector. The question is how to keep such technical failures from becoming business or organizational failures. We should be asking ourselves how we as a society can best keep the flow of goods and services going until the technical problems and failures can be overcome." - IEEE

Whom do you believe? A bunch of engineers, or a bunch of bankers? Hmmm...

-- RPGman (tripix@olypen.com), December 13, 1999.

So, there's absolutely no problems, but "people should hang onto financial records". Sigh. SIGH.

Anyway, I thought it was 99.9% "compliant"? Isn't "ready" a downgrade?

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), December 14, 1999.