Hawaiian boosts Seattle service
Hawaiian Airlines is increasing capacity and amenities for its Honolulu-Seattle service beginning Dec. 8 by switching to a larger aircraft. The airline will begin using a 294-seat Airbus A330, which offers on-demand seat-back entertainment, more legroom and 60 more seats than are available in the 264-seat Boeing 767-300ER.
Times for daily service between Honolulu and Seattle and Maui and Seattle will be adjusted Dec. 8 so flights from Honolulu are scheduled to depart at 2:05 p.m., while Kahului flights are due to take off at 3:55 p.m.
Debit card law benefits state
A Federal Reserve rule change that reduced the fee banks charge merchants to accepting payments with debit cards saved Hawaii consumers an estimated $27.5 million in 2012, according to a new study commissioned by the Merchants Payments Coalition.
In addition, the rule change saved merchants $12.4 million, for a combined savings of about $40 million, according to the study done for the Merchants Payments Coalition by economist Robert Shapiro, co-founder of the economic consulting firm Sonecon LLC.
Under the Federal Reserve’s rule change that went into effect in 2010, the average "interchange" fee on a debt card transaction was cut to 24 cents per transaction from 48 cents per transaction.
Shapiro wrote in his report that "new data show that under most conditions, this final rule has achieved significant savings for consumers and merchants."
Hawaii deer accidents low
The odds of a driver hitting a deer in Hawaii are 1-in-6,787, the lowest in the U.S.
Auto insurer State Farm used claims data and driver’s license counts among the states to determine its calculations.
The most likely state for deer-vehicle collisions is West Virginia, for the seventh consecutive year. The chances of any licensed driver hitting a deer in the next year is 1-in-41.
Axis deer were first introduced to Hawaii in the 1800s and have no natural predators, aside from human hunters.
American Samoa to bank online
PAGO PAGO, American Samoa » American Samoa is opening accounts with Utah-based Zions Bank over the Internet now that Bank of Hawaii is shutting down its operations in the U.S. territory. Zions doesn’t plan to open a physical branch in American Samoa, but instead will handle the U.S. territory’s banking needs online.
American Samoa Treasurer Falemao "Phil" M. Pili has been working with Zions since March to move 26 government accounts to the new bank. The shift becomes effective today, the start of the new fiscal year.
Zions says it’s focusing on serving the government at this point but is looking to expend its service to American Samoa individuals and businesses.
The government will use a scanner provided by Zions to deposit checks. It’s also encouraging employees to get their paycheck with direct deposit, Pili said.
Bank of Hawaii said last year it had become increasingly difficult to deliver an appropriate level of service to American Samoa because of the territory’s geographic isolation from its other markets.
At first Bank of Hawaii was going to shut down its two branches this year. It later agreed to keep one branch open until March 2014 while local government officials tried to set up a replacement.Territorial buys stock
Territorial Bancorp Inc. has completed its fourth repurchase program.
The parent of Territorial Savings Bank repurchased 532,000 shares of its common stock at an average price of $22.29 per share.
Territorial’s stock closed up 10 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $21.97 Monday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Its shares are down 3.9 percent this year.
ON THE MOVE
ProService Hawaii has announced the following promotions:
» Shane Takeshita to director of midmarket sales. He was previously a senior business development and team leader. He has eight years’ experience with the company.
» James Idemoto to director of sales. He was previously business development manager. He has four years’ experience with the company.
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Honolulu Board of Water Supply appointed David C. Hulihee to its board of directors. He officially joined the board in September. Hulihee is president and chairman of Royal Contracting Company Ltd. and chairman and chief executive officer of Grace Pacific.
