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To: Les H who wrote (36127)	12/29/1999 11:23:00 AM
From: Les H	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 99985

Millennium Bug Strikes Credit Card Machines in EU Retailers have been hit by the first major strike of the Millennium Bug as thousands of credit card swipe machines failed. The machines did not recognise the year 2000 date. Mainly smaller shops starting up after the four-day Christmas break were affected by the glitch in equipment supplied by HSBC, one of the UK's big four banks. The Government's bug-busting unit Action 2000 said the problem was a result of the bug. But it stressed credit card transactions could still be processed through the machines and said no "material disruption" had been caused. The first warning signs of potential bug problems came on the same day that the Government launched its official bug-tracking website to monitor developments both in the UK and overseas. A spokeswoman said: "Action 2000 has always said that minor problems are inevitable in a project of this scope and will not be restricted to December 31." A spokesman for HSBC, formerly known as Midland Bank, said: "The problem has arisen because these new swipe card terminals, installed in the summer, have a look-ahead facility spanning four working days. "When they looked ahead and compared, say, December 28 1999 with January 1 2000 they thought something was wrong and failed to function because they read the second date as January 1 1900. "This problem will disappear when we get to January 1 because the terminals will be comparing January 1 2000 with January 5 2000 - both in the same year - and will see no problem with that."