Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Y2K Will Be No Problem For Gurdon's Banks

Everyone has heard of the so-called Y2K bug and how it will be devastating to computers beginning Jan. 1, 2000.

Many computers, it seems, were programed to read the 00 in the year 2000 as 1900 and set their internal calendars accordingly. The end result, according to popular thought, is this will create a massive shutdown of many services.

One of those services the Y2K bug is supposed to affect is banking. But, in Gurdon, Y2K will be no problem.

Officials with both banks assure their customers when 1999 ends and 2000 begins the cause for celebration will be the beginning of a new millennium, not a shutdown of the banking computer system.

Steve Orsborne, manager of Gurdon's Mercantile branch bank, said the parent company has established a web address and toll-free telephone number customers can call to find out what has been done to protect their money.

John French, president of First State Bank of Gurdon, said FSB has been working on this problem for years.

Orsborne said there's no reason for Mercantile customers to be afraid as the bank has been working to upgrade its computer systems to handle the change next year.

French echoed this, saying First State has spent a lot of time and money dealing with reputable software companies to upgrade its computer systems for Y2K.

In fact, French said, First State's computers have been upgraded, tested and examined by the FDIC twice to make sure there will be no problem come Jan. 1, 2000.

"The banking industry has not taken this lightly," French said. "Between now and Jan. 1, 2000, we're trying to educate the public and make them comfortable."

Banks, he continued, are heavily regulated by the federal government, and the upgrades made to deal with the Y2K bug are working to both the banks' and customers' advantage.

Orsborne said Mercantile has been working to prepare for Y2K for a long time and the bank's project to upgrade and prepare had a budget of $30 million.

"There's no reason for people to be concerned," he said. "Everything will be fine."

Mercantile began revamping its computer systems in 1996 and formed a Y2K task force in 1997.

Since then, the systems have been tested to make sure when the calendar rolls over on Dec. 31, 1999, there will be no problems.

French said people are mostly worried about banking, social security, the Internal Revenue Service and the government.

Banking customers, he said, need to remember the change of the year will not make the FDIC go away, and their money is still federally insured. First State, he added, has the records of all local depositors on hand and can make sure their funds are protected.

"The world won't stop with Y2K," French said. "I believe some bad things will happen overseas, but it will be more of an irritant than anything. I don't foresee a global economic collapse."

In the U.S., he said, the financial industry will be better off than elsewhere in the world. This is because of federal regulations required for the industry.

To make sure the computers would be all right with the calendar rollover, First State Bank officials went ahead and rolled the date forward to see what would happen. French said nothing did, and this is exactly what was expected.

"I can't see where anyone needs to worry in Gurdon," he said.

At this time, FSB is looking to spend money to investigate a possible back up power source to help in times of power outages.

Still, French said, First State has several long-term employees who were with the bank before computers came into vogue and still know how to post the books by hand if need be.

Mercantile is also working to make sure all accounts remain safe as Y2K approaches. The bank keeps backup records of all account transactions if the data is needed in an emergency. These records could help identify and correct account errors should there be a Y2K problem.

But, problems will be unlikely as Mercantile has also rolled its computer calendars forward to see what will happen as of Jan. 1, 2000, and, again, nothing did.

More information on Mercantile's Y2K effort can be obtained through a toll-free phone number, 1-877-925-6372, or found on the Internet at www.mercantile.com/year2000.