Century Date Change Readiness Hits Critical Strength

With just under nine months remaining until the new millennium, Century Date Change (CDC) testing and readiness is of the highest importance in the banking industry. In terms of internal readiness, the Federal Reserve System has tested nearly all of its 105 mission-critical systems. More than 5,000 of the Fed's customers, including the Treasury, have conducted tests with Federal Reserve Banks. Although these figures are encouraging, financial institutions still must take key steps to ensure that all of their systems are CDC compliant. By March 31, 1999, financial institutions should have:

• substantially completed testing with service providers; and
• begun testing with their material data exchange partners.

By June 30, 1999, financial institutions should have:

• completed testing of mission-critical systems; and
• substantially completed implementation of renovated mission-critical systems.

This issue of Central Banker examines some of the most important aspects of CDC preparation for financial institutions (see checklist). For additional information, please call Jeff Dale at (314) 444-8400.