STRATEGIC PARTNERS
March 20, 2003
ORLANDO, Fla. -- With the war in Iraq and continued threats of terrorism, the nation's major banks have been accumulating stockpiles of cash in case war reports or another terrorist attack causes a flood of nervous cash withdrawals from ATMs.
"We have been keeping excess cash available for quite a while in anticipation of something like the events that are occurring right now," Jim Hindman, executive vice president of SunTrust Banks Inc.'s Central Florida operations, told the Orlando Sentinel.
Because ATM withdrawals typically pick up during hurricanes and other disasters, banks have developed ways to forecast the cash supply needed at each machine or branch office during unusual situations, he said.
The central Florida region's other major banks, Bank of America and Wachovia, also assign "business continuity" teams to watch for abnormally high numbers of transactions.
"They would quickly respond if there was some business interruption, like a run on cash or some other incident," said Amanda Malcolm, a Bank of America spokeswoman.
According to the Sentinel, banks are also reviewing safety and security procedures, testing electronic security systems and briefing staff members to increase their readiness for potential emergencies.
"That's a standard type response by banks in a situation like this," said Jack Greeley, an Orlando lawyer who represents a number of banking clients. "And usually we'll also see the banking regulators putting out notices telling banks how they should be prepared."
On March 18, the government launched Operation Liberty Shield, a broad-based effort to guard the home front. As part of that, the Treasury Department announced a number of measures to protect major links in the nation's financial infrastructure, including plans to provide communications assistance, added physical protection and stronger cyber-security.
