In a bid to further assure customers, the public and business community of its readiness for the millennium, First National Bank has opened a telephonic Y2K help desk for customers concerned about the bank and its Y2K compliancy.
"Help desk staff should be able to answer about 95% of questions while those of a more technical nature will have to be referred to our technical support staff," says FNB`s Y2K assistant project director, Frank Mullin.
Mullin sees the help desk as playing an important role in allaying customer worries about the potential impact of the Year 2000 date roll-over. "We need to reassure our customers that their deposits will be safe with us and that fears about the impact of the millennium bug on the banking industry have been grossly overstated."
"FNB`s Year 2000 project is virtually complete at a cost of R130-million and we will continue comprehensive testing throughout the year to ensure they remain Y2K ready. Contingency plans will be in place in the event of local disruptions of services such as water or electricity.
"What we can`t do, though, is advise customers on what to do to ensure their own systems and computers are ready for the millennium. They will need to be advised and assisted by their computer suppliers."
However, Mullin, says that FNB does provide testing facilities for its larger clients to test their bug fixes in conjunction with the bank`s systems.
The FNB Help Desk number is 086-1100-110. It is open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm from Monday to Saturday. The help desk will be fully manned over the New Year period.
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