BII sets off computer-bug

JAKARTA (JP): Bank International Indonesia (BII) has announced it will temporarily turn off its computer system this weekend, starting on Nov. 6 at 10 p.m. in a bid to prepare itself for the millennium bug.

BII president Indra Widjaja said on Monday that during the turn-off period, the bank would stop all banking transactions, including automated teller machine (ATM) services, as well as telephone and Internet banking. The bank would also stop its credit-card operations during the turn-off period.

The bank will resume full operations and services on Nov. 9.

Indra said BII was making preparations to avoid the millennium bug, when computers will read all year 2000 transactions as 1900.

"In the future, BII's customer base will get larger and larger. We are going to be in difficulties if we do not anticipate such a phenomenon (millennium bug)," he said at a media conference. (29)