I recently (Friday) went to my bank and asked if their computers were Y2K compliant yet. The lady told me yes without any hesitation. So, I asked if she could give me some evidence that her banks computers were compliant and she said hold on. She brought out another lady from a back office who ASSURED me that the computers were ready, but there was no way she could give me anything in writing or anything like that.

What should I do???

PLEASE LET ME KNOW ANY AND ALL SUGGESTIONS!!!

-- PMM (Grute22@yahoo.com), February 08, 1999

Answers

Banks are required to have copies of their Y2k progress and compliance statements to to the FDIC and the Federal Reserve. You should be able to write to your bank's president and ask for a summary of the reports. Understand that the actual reports are not releaseable outside the bank and its regulators. You could also ask for a copy of the bank's Y2K public statments.

It really does seem amazing to me that your bank wouldn't have some sort of Y2K info package available. My wife is currently the default Y2K spearhead where she works and she is forever complaining about the level of Y2K documentation the Federal Reserve and the FDIC have tasked her bank with.

Taking this Y2K information and making it available in a publicly release-able format is one of the things which should be done by a bank that's up on their public relations game. It's to their interest to put out whatever news they have, if it will help keep undue panic from happening.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), February 08, 1999.

I asked my banker about Y2K also. We'll call her Marilyn, since that is her name. She said "Y2K?, isn't that where all the computers crash and the government falls and then Jesus comes back and the World Ends?" I'm not kidding, this is an exact quote. I said "I'd like to close my accounts now please."

-- Nikoli Krushev (doomsday@y2000.com), February 08, 1999.

To PMM,

Walk back in and nicely close your account. Then, give her YOUR 'assurance' that if their 'assurance' was correct, you will re- deposit your money later.

-- Paul Milne (fedinfo@halifax.com), February 08, 1999.

http://www.fdic.gov/banknews/fils/1998/fil9874.html

FIL-74-98 July 8, 1998 YEAR 2000 ASSESSMENT RATING TO:CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERSUBJECT:Confidentiality of Year 2000 Assessment Rating The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), in partnership with state banking regulators, recently completed initial on-site Year 2000 assessments of all state non-member banks. A number of insured financial institutions have asked whether they may disclose to the public the rating assigned to their institution. FDIC regulations strictly prohibit such a disclosure. Information from Year 2000 assessments are governed by the same rules of confidentiality that apply to FDIC examinations for safety and soundness, compliance, information systems, and trust activities. Under Part 309 of the FDIC's rules and regulations, disclosure of reports of examination, or any information contained in them, is strictly prohibited. Accordingly, institutions may not disclose results from Year 2000 assessments just as they may not disclose other types of examination information. Moreover, disclosure of such information to third parties such as financial ratings firms or fidelity bond carriers is likewise prohibited. Requests from such entities are not authorized by the FDIC or any other banking regulator. In light of the blanket prohibition on disclosing ratings, compilations of Year 2000 ratings by such firms are necessarily incomplete and unreliable. While the disclosure of Year 2000 assessment information is prohibited, the FDIC strongly encourages financial institutions to publicly disclose the steps they have taken to address Year 2000 issues, including their own evaluation of their compliance with Year 2000 guidance issued by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC). Such disclosures are an effective method for institutions to inform customers of their Year 2000 readiness, and are recommended by the FDIC. In FIL-52-98, "Year 2000 Customer Awareness Guidance" issued on May 13, 1998, the FDIC emphasized the importance of effective communication between institutions and their customers. In FIL-24-98, "Discussion of Year 2000 Issues in Annual Disclosures" issued on February 27, 1998, the FDIC highlighted the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Year 2000 disclosure requirements for publicly traded institutions. The FDIC also encouraged other institutions not subject to SEC requirements to use the SEC guidance as the basis for voluntary public disclosure about Year 2000 readiness. The FDIC, in conjunction with the other federal banking agencies, also assesses the Year 2000 readiness of the majority of service providers and selected software vendors. The FDIC and the other federal banking agencies disclose the assessment information of such service providers, and those software vendors who consent to disclosure, to their insured financial institution customers. However, under the same disclosure rules that apply to financial institutions, service providers and software vendors are not authorized to disclose their Year 2000 assessment information. Likewise, insured financial institution customers may not disclose the assessment information of their service providers or software vendors. The FDIC does not "certify" Year 2000 compliance of service providers or software vendors, nor does it rank their Year 2000 readiness efforts. Like insured financial institutions, service providers and software vendors are encouraged to share with their customers the steps they have taken to address Year 2000 issues. For further information, please contact your Division of Supervision regional office. Nicholas J. Ketcha Jr.Director Distribution: FDIC-Supervised Banks (Commercial and Savings) NOTE: Paper copies of FDIC financial institution letters may be obtained through the FDIC's Public Information Center, 801 17th Street, NW, Room100, Washington, DC 20434 (800-276-6003 or 202-416-6940).

-- S.Rathers (srathers@hotmail.com), February 08, 1999.

S. Rathers, Is that saying that the Americans who are asked to trust their hard-earned dollars to a banker are "strictly prohibited" from knowing from shinola about whether their money will go "poof!"

-- Puddintame (dit@dot.com), February 08, 1999.

Why do you need a bank account anyway? Cash your payroll check at your employers bank. Pay your bills with moneyorders, and keep the rest in cash in your house. You don't need a bank to hold your money, especially when they don't want to give it back to you and it belongs to you! Some deserve to have stupid plastered on their foreheads!

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), February 08, 1999.

Well,

Bardou!!!

For your information I do not have STUPID plastered across my forehead. Why don't you keep your big-headed, asshole opinions to yourself. Not only is my checking acount their. But, I have loans, savings accountc, CDs, and so on. So unless you know all the fact do not call someone stupid. Otherwise you moght have ASSHOLE plasteres across your forehead you dick!!!!!

PMM

-- PMM (grute22@yahoo.com), February 08, 1999.

We should thank PMM.

He has given us a fine example of a very good ANTI-survival activity.

The entertainment value here never ceases.

-- Greybear, who lives in a part of the world NOW where that kind of talk can serious impinge on you health

ps, Sickem bardou

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), February 08, 1999.

Bardou, Come on, the practice of banking is, um, fairly established. For the vast majority of people, the idea of keeping tens of thousands of dollars stuffed in a mattress is rather foreign. If the banking system wasn't threatened, it would be pretty stupid to keep all of your money in cash where it can be stolen, lost, burned, consumed by K-9's, etc...

-- d (d@usedtobedgi.old), February 08, 1999.

I for one cannot do as Bardou suggests because we have a loan on a place we own withdrawn automatically from our checking account (as a condition of getting the loan in the first place, and if we hadn't got the loan, we'd have lost the place to my husband's ex.)

I think that a bank that cannot substantiate its claims regarding compliance in writing is either a) non-compliant and trying to hide the fact or b) staffed by nincompoops. Hopefully, your situation is the latter; if the former, I would change banks. If you don't get satisfaction from a teller or his/her supervisor, ask to see the branch manager. If that person cannot substantiate, in writing, the bank's compliance, get the name of the person higher up who can.

Everything you have should be documented in full, and get copies notarized. Put them in your fire-proof safe (not the bank's safe deposit box, but something over which you personally have control).

-- Jean Meyers (jeanm@pillaroflight.com), February 09, 1999.