WASHINGTON -- Eight out of 10 ATM/debit cardholders in the U.S. expect to be able to conduct transactions at ATMs or at grocery stores and gas stations on January 1, 2000, according to a new nationwide Gallup survey.
Furthermore, nearly 79 percent of those surveyed said they expect Y2K to "have little or no impact" on their personal finances, indicating that there is broad based consumer confidence in the financial industry overall.
"We're excited that consumer confidence has risen so high, since the financial industry has invested so much time and money on Y2K-readiness," said Ronald V. Congemi, president and CEO of Star Systems, Inc., which commissioned the study. Star is the largest EFT network in the U.S., extending coast-to-coast with the recent merger of the Honor and Star networks.
"Clearly, the public is becoming more confident as they learn more about Y2K preparations, including testing, that the financial and electronic funds transfer industries have been making," Congemi said.
"The public is being realistic, however, when it comes to preparing for the possibility of an isolated or temporary interruption of some sort."
About 64 percent of the survey's participants said they plan to "withdraw and set aside extra cash" prior to the millennium, although more than half (52 percent) said the withdrawal amount won't exceed the normal amount planned for a weekday, weekend and/or holiday.
"Hopefully those people will follow the advice of numerous government and consumer organizations, recommending that people make any withdrawals in small increments well in advance of Dec. 31," Congemi said.
When asked what factors would be most influential regarding their banking related plans in preparation for Y2K, 70 percent said information from their own bank, 40 percent mentioned government reports and 28 percent said media/news reports. Multiple responses were allowed.
A somewhat surprising finding was the uniformity of answers given by a wide variety of Americans. All age groups and income levels gave similar responses, as did residents of different geographic areas.
Of the 1,606 adults who completed the telephone survey, 62.5 percent said they normally make ATM cash withdrawals one or more times per week, and 48 percent of them routinely use their ATM/debit card to make purchases in grocery stores, gas stations or discount stores one or more times per week.
Star Systems conducted the Gallup survey to provide information on consumer behavior regarding ATMs and Y2K to the more than 3,700 financial institutions and organizations it serves. Like all EFT networks, Star Systems, Inc. is using research, collaboration with other support organizations, remediation and testing to be prepared for the Year 2000.
The Star network serves 79 million ATM/debit cardholders via nearly 470,000 participating ATMs and merchant POS locations such as grocery stores, gas stations, and drug stores. The network processes an average of 2 billion financial transactions, representing nearly than 50 billion dollars in volume, annually.
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