Software Testing Blog

It arrived much later than expected – 10 years in fact – but the Y2k bug may finally get its time to shine. According to the AFP,German Banking officials have warned that as many as 30 million card holders may be unable to withdraw cash or make online payments due to the “feared Y2k computer bug.”

Apparently, certain chips used in a new series of “high tech” banking cards are unable to recognize the year 2010. The problem could persist for the next ten days, which is especially bad for the “EC” cardholders, as they are direct debit instruments, and are not able to purchase anything on credit even when they function properly.

This news coming just days after similar problems had been reported in Australia, where certain POS (point of sale) transactions were unable to be processed. This bug was dubbed the “2016 glitch”, since the machines apparently recognized the year 2016 in place of 2010.

Either way, I suppose this would be a good time to remind our readers of the importance of regression testing….