Millennium bug countdown Think about it. Tens of millions of people are expected to take extra hundreds of dollars out of their banks before the millennium weekend just in case bank and credit card computers crash or lose their electricity as the year changes to 2000. As with any cash waiting to be spent, you can count on this money to be spent quickly and impulsively, says Greg Smith, investment strategist at Prudential Securities. His is one of those insights as brilliant as it is obvious. He knows from personal experience what will happen.
Nobody knows, of course.
This is unprecedented. But you have to wonder. We put the questions to Mike Griffin, a leader in the American Bankers Association and president of Statewide Savings, a Jersey City bank whose operations keep him close to his customers. Bank computers will work, so don't risk losing your money to fire or theft, he said. It is fully insured in the bank where it is.