Local debit and credit cards are not Chip-and-PIN and you may experience problems in trying to use them to make purchases or even withdraw cash from an ATM here. The only local bank ATMs that I've never had problems with are those owned by Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and China Bank - but do retain the advice notes and compare them with your bank/credit card statement! Double-debits are not uncommon. Shop assistants get very confused when trying to process Chip-and-PIN cards - that is, if they have a machine that can handle this type and not all can. Even if they manage to process the transaction successfully - some will even ask you to tell them the PIN number(!) and those who don't won't accord you any privacy whilst keying it in - they will still print 3 copies of the transaction and get you to sign two of them even though the ticket states "Authorised by PIN". If you need cash, seek out a foreign-owned bank such as Citibank, Standard Chartered or HSBC: their overall transaction charges will be somewhat less than those imposed by the local banks (and may be close to zero if you're a customer).
