When we were in Mexico, we found we could use our Royal Bank Client card to withdraw $ from the ATMs there without difficulty, and used our same six digit PIN number as we use at home in Canada.

I understand though that in many countries, the ATMs only accept 4 digit PINs.

I would rather not have to dumb mine down to four digits unless I have to .

Can anyone advise on the situation re PINs at ATMs in Bonaire?

Thanks!

Sandy

We have had no problem using our NY atm card in Bonaire, the Maduro Atms, which there is one in town and one out by Sand Dollar that give either dollars or florin, your choice, I know they accept Cirrus. Same pin as hoome.

oops, not a six digit tho

I know that for local bank ATM cards only 4 digit PINs are used. Whether the machines are limited to 4 digits for a non-local card is not something I know, though (although the machines here are on the Cirrus network, which is common inside the U.S. (and uncommon outside North America)).

Jake

I've seen in the past when banks have the option of PIN codes longer than 4 digits, the machines really only use the first 4 digits anyway. I find that deceptive, since people think they're getting more security than they really are, but it seemed to be common then (several years back). Whether anything has changed is a good question.

ATM fees...
I also noticed that while the Maduro & Curiel's Bank had an ATM that took my debit/VISA bank card without a glitch, it also tacked on a fee ($2.50 I think) without warning me. In the U.S., overt disclosure of any such fee is mandatory. You usually have to say "YES" to the charge in order to complete the transaction. That did not happen at the ATM I used in Bonaire.

-LS

That might be something due to your bank, or maybe you're not on the Cirrus network?

I use my U.S.-bank issued Cirrus-compatible - ATM card on Bonaire all the time (several times a month) and have never had a surcharge applied by MCB (or my bank). I do get a NAF 1 surcharge using my MCB bank card in the MCB ATMs here though :-)

Jake

Thank you for all your responses, but I found an email for the Maduro bank in Kralendijk and wrote them, receiving this definitve response:

Dear Sandy,


Thank you for your e-mail. I double checked this issue with our Technical
Department and all our ATM and POS can handle up to 12 digits.


Now the question is, do you have one of the following logos on the card:
Cirrus,MasterCard,Maestro,Visa,Plus


Looking forward to you response.


Thank you
Ingeborg Sint Jago
Maduro & Curiel's Bank N.V.
BankCard Services Department
Manager Sales and Services.

Which net?

Interesting that MCB does not surcharge a Cirrus-system card, but did surcharge my Plus-system card. I wonder if MCB has a complete description of what terms/fees apply to each of the card systems their ATM's can process?

It is generally true that banks only charge for transactions on some of the systems through which they can process your transaction. Usually one system (Cirrus, Plus, Maestro) will be the "house" system for the bank that operates a given ATM, and holders of other banks' cards that use the same system can use that ATM with reduced or no charges. Sometimes it is hard to tell which is the "house" network since the ATM may have 4 or 5 logos on it.

-LS

I know my U.S. bank charges me a fee if I use my U.S. ATM card at an ATM which is not Cirrus but is PLUS network. That's only happened internationally so far (Europe), and some years ago. So it may be a PLUS network thing, not an MCB thing...

Jake

Here in New England, the SUM network is growing. Most of the smaller banks and credit unions, plus some of the larger banks, are members of SUM. The deal with SUM is if your bank is a member, you won't be charged a fee by your bank or the ATM owner. Mutual benefit, and all that.

The tricky thing with the SUM network is that, even though a bank may be a member, not all of its ATMs are necessarily on the network. Citizen's Bank is particularly bad this way -- only 70% of their machines are on SUM. Gotta actually look for the sticker on the machine...

Faith