~ But says ATM's safe, money secure~
PHILIPSBURG--The Windward Islands Bank has filed a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office concerning an attempt to defraud the bank. More specifically, the bank's security monitoring systems detected skimming activity at its ATMs located on the Cyrus Wathey Square and the St. Rose Arcade, two machines that are heavily used by tourists.
Officials at the bank declined to say what period exactly the skimming took place, only classifying it as "recently." Bank officials also did not say if clients of other banks were affected, considering that many are assumed to be tourists.
A number of the bank's clients had called The Daily Herald since Monday to complain that the bank had suspended the ATM cards and that information about the reasoning behind the suspension was not forthcoming.
In a release issued on Tuesday, Bank officials said that as a precautionary measure, "we cancelled all WIB issued ATM cards which were used at these two machines within the time the suspicious activity was detected."
It continued: "We have printed new ATM cards with newly generated PIN codes as well for those affected customers and have contacted them requesting that they come in to collect their new cards and PIN codes."
The bank went on to assure any affected ATM card holder that they will suffer no financial loss as a result of this incident and apologised for any inconvenience this may have caused. Deputy Managing Director of WIB Derek Downes clarified that by explaining that even if the skimming attempt was successful, WIB's customers will get their money back. He declined to say how successful the skimming operation had been, but said it was "minimal."
"We also wish to reassure our customers that WIB's ATMs are safe and equipped with the capability to detect any attempts at malfeasance and our security protocols continue to be vigilant to protect their accounts," the release continued.
"While we at WIB remain committed to providing our customers with safe channels to access their funds, we encourage our ATM customers to use the following safety-tips when conducting an ATM transaction, namely: Inspect the ATM before you insert your card, When entering the pin-code use your free hand as a cover over the key-pad, report any irregularity immediately to the bank.
In December 2010, WIB launched its new bankomatiko card using chip card technology, becoming the first bank in the Caribbean to make use of the technology.
The new card, equipped with a chip, makes use of EMV (Europay, MasterCard and VISA) software. The new bankomatiko card is an updated version of the bank's existing bankomatiko card with a new design and an additional level of security for the card holder.
However, while the new card will carry a chip, it still has the magnetic strip, which leaves the possibility open for skimming. WIB opted to still use the strip to ensure that the new card will be continued to be accepted everywhere particularly at places where chip technology is not yet in use.
Chip technology, a mainstay in Europe, is not used in the US either. WIB is the first to use the technology in the Americas.
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