BANKING ON NEW MILLENNIUM; CALFED TRIES TO ALLAY Y2K FEARS BY STAYING OPEN JAN. 1.Byline: Chris Sieroty Staff Writer It will be business as usual for employees at the nation's second-largest thrift on New Year's Day New Year's Day, among ancient peoples the first day of the year frequently corresponded to the vernal or autumnal equinox, or to the summer or winter solstice. In the Middle Ages it was celebrated among Christians usually on Mar. 25. , as California Federal Bank California Federal Bank, often abbreviated to "Cal Fed", was a savings and loan bank in California. It existed from 1926 until 2002, when its parent company Golden State Bancorp was acquired by Citigroup, resulting in the bank being merged into Citibank. will open 31 branches in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and Ventura counties. The San Francisco-based savings and loan savings and loan n. a banking and lending institution, chartered either by a state or the Federal government. Savings and loans only make loans secured by real property from deposits, upon which they pay interest slightly higher than that paid by most banks. said Monday it will have a total of 97 branches in California and seven in Nevada open on Jan. 1 in an attempt to reassure customers worried about Y2K See Y2K problem and Y2K compliant. Y2K - Year 2000 computer problems. ``We've worked long and hard on getting our systems up to speed and Y2K-ready, and we don't expect any problems,'' said Scott Kisting, executive vice president at California Federal Bank. ``However, the Y2K issue has been such a hot topic in the press we can't ignore the fact that many people may have some concerns.'' CalFed spokeswoman Mary Rische said the branches also will be open as a convenience for our customers. ``Most of the branches that will be open are in residential areas and shopping centers,'' she said. Rische said branches in Canoga Park, Encino, Glendale, Northridge, Saugus, Sherman Oaks and Woodland Hills will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. In Ventura County, branches in Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. and Ventura will open for business. Other financial institutions with a large presence in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , including Bank of America
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC TYO: 8648 ) is the largest commercial bank in the United States in terms of deposits, and the largest company of its kind in the world. , Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo Bank, will be closed on New Year's Day but say customers will have access to their money through ATMs. ``Bank of America will observe the legal holiday, meaning all branches and in-store locations will be closed,'' said spokeswoman Jackie Herold. However, customers will still have access to their money or information about their accounts through ATMs and online, she said. Kathleen Schilkret, a spokeswoman for Wells Fargo Bank, said all branches will remain closed New Year's Day. In-store branches, however, will be open on Jan. 2. ``Wells Fargo Bank is advising its clients to take out what they need before the holiday weekend begins,'' she said. Herold agreed, saying, ``We are recommending that customers prepare for a holiday weekend, by taking out extra cash.'' On the following day - Sunday, Jan. 2 - Bank of America's in-store locations also will reopen for business. Washington Mutual is taking a similar approach. ``We may change our minds, but at this point we don't see a need to be open,'' said spokeswoman Libby Hutchinson. ``We're going to be using that time to make sure they're ready for business on Monday. It's a bank holiday, so we're treating it as such.'' Said Kisting, ``We're aware that other banks and banking Authorized financial institutions and the business in which they engage, which encompasses the receipt of money for deposit, to be payable according to the terms of the account; collection of checks presented for payment; issuance of loans to individuals who meet certain requirements; officials have stated that there's no need to open on New Year's Day. That's absolutely true. But we're not doing this because we need to. We're doing it because we want to.'' The Associated Press contributed to this report. CAPTION(S): photo PHOTO Brochures on Y2K sit atop counters in front of tellers at a California Federal Bank branch in San Francisco last month. Eric Risberg/Associated Press |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion