So, part of what we are trying to do is figure out what we can do to assuage whatever problems might arise. That's the good news. The bad news is that as the leading sector, it still has holes in it's preparations. While many banks are confident they themselves are well prepared, they express concern when they look abroad, especially when the Far East is examined and in particular, when preparations in Japan are placed under scrutiny. These concerns are real, but may not be as bad as they seem at first glance.
Many banks rely on software packages supplied by a handful of vendors.
Once a vendor delivers a Y2K compatible version of their product, large numbers of banks can become compliant as soon as they install the new version. In addition, it is practically impossible, unless extreme, unmitigated incompetence is involved, for a bank to either lose or corrupt financial data permanently due to year 2000 related problems. The sure fire defense against loss of data integrity is merely the act of taking a backup, something even the most unprepared bank can accomplish in less than 24 hours. If the data is safe, then the 'money' in a bank is safe, and so are the depositors. This point is worthy of further explanation.