Show me the Money, My money!
From Dr. North's site:
Subject: No Problem, No Problem, No Problem, Say Bankers,
Over and Over. And Furthermore, No Problem.
Link: year2000.dci.com
Comment: You have heard about "on track." You have been
thrilled by "on target." Now comes "well on their
way." And alongside, "doing their best."
So, we should not worry. When Miss Shields told us
back in fourth grade that we were all doing our
best, we beamed. We had no fears. Until report card
day. And then, you know what? She flunked some of
us.
Not a single bank will fail due to y2k, says the
FDIC, which will go bust if it's too far wrong, or
"off track," as the saying goes. Everything is just
fine.
Of course, a whole lot of them may fail because of
bank runs. But, my friends, it's not broken code
that threatens the banks. It's not the fact that no
money center bank has reached compliance. Forget
about the noncompliant Japanese banks. They are
irrelevant. No, we are the problem. Us. Therefore,
we are the solution.
Question: When a banker is told that he must run an
educational campaign to inform his customers about
how y2k is not a threat, and the basnker knows his
bank is not compliant, and the lawyers say he could
be sued if he says otherwise, what is he to say?
On track. On target. Well on our way. Working on
it. Doing our best.
This is from DCI.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Banks Face a New Challenge: Fear
With the rapid approach of the new millennium,
banks are racing to meet compliance deadlines – but
their biggest problem may not be a systems failure.
Banks across the country are now doing their best
to squash another kind of Year 2000 bug: panic.
Federal regulators recently told a congressional
committee that 97 percent of U.S. banks were well
on their way to eliminating the Y2K computer glitch
long before it could cause trouble. Even one of
those regulators, the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corp., said that no banks were expected to fail as
a result of the Y2K bug.
Depositors, however, are just not buying it. Many
are planning to withdraw at least some of their
savings at the end of the year. A Gallup poll
conducted in March revealed that 55 percent of the
respondents expected banking and accounting systems
to fail on Jan. 1, compared with 40 percent for
food and retail distribution systems. Sixty-six
percent said they would ask for extra copies of
their account balances and financial records. And
although only 15 percent said they would pull all
their money out of the bank, twice that number said
they plan to withdraw and stockpile cash.
"I'll just withdraw it for a few days," says
76-year old Andy Todd of Cambridge, Mass. "If there
hasn't been a problem, I'll put it back in the
first week (of January)." . . . .
Other customers prefer to lock their money up. Safe
deposit boxes are at a premium. Banks are receiving
an increasing number of requests from people who
want to place cash in a safe deposit box at the
turn of the millennium for fear of Year 2000
computer glitches. The demand is so high that
consumers in some cities are being forced to wait
months before they can get a box.
To prevent any year-end financial mass hysteria,
government agencies are now urging banks to put
more effort into educating and informing their
customers about the Y2K bug. In response, banks are
developing marketing campaigns to reinforce the
message that Y2K will not cause a crisis. . . .
Despite these efforts, banks may find themselves in
a position where a large number of depositors begin
demanding their money as the New Year approaches –
and they won't be able to pay up. To head off such
a situation, the Federal Reserve has said it will
be ready to pump an extra $50 billion into the
banking system to cope with a surge in withdrawals.
As the year draws to a close, banks are going to
face an uphill task convincing customers that there
is no need to panic. Russell G. Johnson, Group
Manager of operations for Provident Bank of
Maryland and leader of the bank's Year 2000
compliance effort feels that this is going to be
the biggest challenge of all. "We know that we're
prepared," he says, "But whatever the reality is,
the perception is always worse."
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