What the banks say about Y2K

A quick survey of New Zealand bank Web sites reveals, in some cases, a startling lack of detail regarding each bank's Year 2000 plans. ANZ and Westpac which are required by Australian stock exchange regulations to make Year 2000 disclosure statements provide the most detailed and up to date description of their progress - although ANZ's New Zealand specific information is scant. Nearly all banks said they were implementing contingency plans. Some excerpts:

* WestpacTrust : "... plans to be substantially Year 2000 compliant by 31 December 1998 ... core account systems, which include term investments, home loans, and transaction accounts, have already been remediated, tested and certified as compliant ... all other internal systems and hardware components to be Year 2000 ready by March 1999 ... .testing of all systems and interfaces with external suppliers will continue to take place throughout 1999 ... repairing and testing its systems and reviewing business operations and risks is estimated at $22.5 million.

* ANZ: "... believes that it is vital to share information about Year 2000. On 13 January 1999, ANZ announced that repair and individual testing of its software applications and core technology platforms had been completed ... central Group 2000 Project manages implementation of the plans for ANZ's operations in 43 countries and across all its wholly owned subsidiaries ... End-to-end external testing is on schedule for completion by 30 June 1999 ... The estimate for total capital and operating cost to ANZ, for the period until 2000, has been revised down from $A200 million to $A183 million."

* ASB Bank: "is Year 2000 Ready. We have a clear and precise understanding of how products, services, software, etc will perform prior to, during and after the Year 2000. A relatively small number of items will be finalised during 1999 and undergo appropriate testing. Being Year 2000 ready by 31 December 1998 gives us 1999 to monitor our systems, check everything is in order and to make sure we have got it right before 1 January 2000."

* Countrywide: "In accordance with the Bank of Scotland's group objectives, Countrywide Bank will be Year 2000 compliant by June 1998 - the first of the international group to achieve this and a leader in the New Zealand market ... we have also invested in Year 2000 compliant technology."

* National Bank in its annual report: "As the upgrading of our core systems proceeds, we are making significant progress on the path to achieving Year 2000 compliance... we work towards the organisational target of November 1998 for full compliance."

* BNZ - little information on the New Zealand site but the Australian parent site, National Australia Bank, revealed: "The National does not intend to claim at any particular time that it has achieved complete Year 2000 compliance ... The problem is simply too complex for any business to make such a claim with legitimacy. Rather, the National is confident ... financial impact of the National's Year 2000 program, including depreciation, is currently budgeted at $A284 million for the period September 1996 through to March 2000."