Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 17/99) - Take the normal amount of cash.

That's the message the Canadian Bankers Association regional director, Jennifer Fisk, has for those concerned about the Y2K bug in the days before Jan. 1, 2000.

"Withdraw as much as you would need for any other long weekend," she said.

"We've been spending time assuring people they will have access to cash and their financial records are fully protected," she adds.

In fact, taking out extra money may be a bad move because it may put people at risk of theft, Fisk said.

Debit cards will work as usual, added Fisk.

"It will be business as usual. We have full confidence everything will operate."

As for theft, Fisk also said it is important for people to not fall victim to any millennium scam.

Earlier this year, con artists devised a Y2K scam. They tried to convince people their money had to be moved to special Y2K-protected accounts. The scam involved giving out account numbers.

Fisk said there is no way a bank would ever ask a customer for his or her account number because they already have it.

The banking industry in Canada has spent about $1 billion to prepare for the Y2K computer problem. When Jan. 1 arrives, some computer systems may fail to interpret the correct date. It may revert back to the year 1900 or crash because of an inability to accept a four-digit year.

Banks first felt the effects of Y2K in the mid-1990s when systems would not accept guaranteed investment certificates due to mature in 2000 and beyond.

Fisk, responsible for the NWT, Nunavut and Alberta, was in Yellowknife last week meeting with bank representatives and the media.

The Canadian Bankers Association, established in 1891, is a professional industry association which provides its members, the chartered banks of Canada, with information, research and advocacy. The association also provides information to the public on industry and financial issues.