Y2K is "Business as Usual" at First Citizens Bank

January 1, 2000

RALEIGH, N.C. - First Citizens Bank's initial analysis of its mainframe systems and ATM network indicates that key components of the bank's computer network are fully functional following the Year 2000 date change.

The initial tests, conducted just after midnight, showed that important deposit and communications systems entered the Year 2000 operating normally. First Citizens associates will continue testing individual computer applications throughout the weekend and into the business week.

"We had the highest level of confidence that First Citizens Bank was ready for the date change," said Jim Hyler, vice chairman of First Citizens. "We've been preparing for years, and the final validation came when the clock struck midnight and we were operating business as usual."

Hyler said First Citizens associates, about 225 of whom are working through the night at the bank's Raleigh data center, would continue testing the bank's computer systems and check operations at each of its 361 branches.

The bank spent more than three years identifying, fixing and testing computer code that could have malfunctioned because of its use of a two-digit year. Programmers fixed and tested nearly all of the bank's mission critical applications in 1998. Work in 1999 focused on fixing any conflicts in the remaining applications and testing the systems in a Year 2000 environment.

First Citizens partnered with Keane Inc., a $1 billion Boston-based, information systems consulting firm, to implement its Year 2000 readiness strategy. First Citizens used Keane's Year 2000 readiness methodology, Resolve 2000, to prepare for the millennium. Keane's Resolve 2000 methodology has been certified by the Information Technology Association of America.

First Citizens operates 361 branches in more than 200 cities and towns in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. Headquartered in Raleigh, the bank has $9.58 billion in assets. First Citizens Bank is committed to providing superior financial services to individual customers and small to mid-sized businesses.

For more information, contact:
Barbara Thompson
First Citizens BancShares
(919) 716-2716

THIS IS A YEAR 2000 READINESS DISCLOSURE