Banking in Hawaii

[orangebird2020]

Go with a credit union, they have better rates and other features that major banks don't.

I believe you can apply for an account with Bank of Hawaii online, I remember seeing ads for that sometime back.

[timbo31958]

I dont know much about the situations you describe, but it seems to me that some early planning would take care of those problems. example, I am listed on both my mothers account, (who is up in years) and sons account (who is in the military) as an authorized signer. My name is not printed on the checks but am authorized to sign checks in the event they are no longer able to.

[Joliefille]

Originally Posted by Sweetbeet

OK, I'll elaborate. I'm a probate and estate planning lawyer. The difficulties I've had with BOH mainly involve their legal department. They are extremely 'difficult' when it comes to accessing accounts - for example, someone has died and their executor can't access their account, or they have become incompetent and a court-appointed conservator (what you get if you don't have a 'power of attorney' in place before you become incapacitated) can't even access an account to pay the person's bills - what the court appointed and directed them to do. They are very difficult about accepting powers of attorney, trustees, etc. They have cited laws as support for their positions, the laws don't even apply to the particular situation, and there is no explaining it to them. Just today I was told by an executor/trustee that BOH won't release an account to her, they want to release it to the beneficiaries - never mind that the deceased person had debts that have to be paid (and the account is the only source for doing that) before the beneficiaries get anything. (And this is not an account that was to go directly to a beneficiary, either, but one owned by the trust.) Just lots of legal hassles. And I've heard similar things from other attorneys and laypeople, also. BOH is great until you have to do anything "unusual".


For everyday banking, I'm sure they're fine. It is a very stable and secure bank. But if something should happen to you and you want someone else to be able to pay your bills, then you might want to have an account somewhere else that they can access in that circumstance.

Thanks for this info. Guess I'd better cross my T's & dot my I's.

[Becca8377]

I had many bad experiences with BOH and I just used them for everyday banking.
- I put a cancel on a check deposit because I was still dealing with funds from my mainland account. I had the paperwork to prove the cancel, but they still deposited it anyway.
- When I ordered my first set of checks, they never arrived. I went to inquire and they said my address didn't exist. My address CLEARLY existed and they never once tried to deliver the checks.
- I moved to a new address and ordered new checks. They sent me ones with the old address on them, and charged me I believe 2 or 3 extra times.
- They caused me a late fee for a gas payment because they cancelled the checks without telling me.
- Everytime I had one of these issues, their customer service was beyond horrible.

I was getting ready to switch to First Hawaiian, but ended up moving back to the mainland. I also had friends with BOH that had very similar problems. I have also heard other negative reviews for BOH. I suggest going with First Hawaiian.

[whynot?]

Originally Posted by Sweetbeet

OK, I'll elaborate. I'm a probate and estate planning lawyer. The difficulties I've had with BOH mainly involve their legal department. They are extremely 'difficult' when it comes to accessing accounts - for example, someone has died and their executor can't access their account, or they have become incompetent and a court-appointed conservator (what you get if you don't have a 'power of attorney' in place before you become incapacitated) can't even access an account to pay the person's bills - what the court appointed and directed them to do. They are very difficult about accepting powers of attorney, trustees, etc. They have cited laws as support for their positions, the laws don't even apply to the particular situation, and there is no explaining it to them. Just today I was told by an executor/trustee that BOH won't release an account to her, they want to release it to the beneficiaries - never mind that the deceased person had debts that have to be paid (and the account is the only source for doing that) before the beneficiaries get anything. (And this is not an account that was to go directly to a beneficiary, either, but one owned by the trust.) Just lots of legal hassles. And I've heard similar things from other attorneys and laypeople, also. BOH is great until you have to do anything "unusual".

For everyday banking, I'm sure they're fine. It is a very stable and secure bank. But if something should happen to you and you want someone else to be able to pay your bills, then you might want to have an account somewhere else that they can access in that circumstance.

I'm having similar problems with Wachovia/Wells Fargo trying to recognized as POA for my mother. So maybe it's not just BOH, but not uncommon with banks. (Much easier for credit card accounts, oddly -- even those issued by the same banks/investment firms.)

Just a note, too, "timbo31958": the joint account holder/authorized signatory thing works fine for checking accounts, but for credit cards, you must decide whether you really want the joint *responsibility* (and credit liability) for the account. And the other problem accounts are IRAs and similar individual accounts that MUST be owned by one person only. To access funds from someone else's IRA (say, to pay for medical expenses when they are incapacitated), you must have a recognized POA/trustee/conservator/executor. You can "plan ahead," but there are often multiple accounts and many surprises along the path to taking care of others' finances.

Wach/Wells has held up my POA for my mother for over six weeks, whereas Chase and Merrill approved the documents in 72 hours or less, including notification. Wach/Wells also -- rather extraordinarily -- asked for my ailing mother to sign a "letter of authorization" to go along with the POA application. (Kind of redundant and silly, given that's what a POA *is,* but thankfully she is currently well enough to comply with this extraneous step.)

Sorry to go on, but these are the kinds of things that come up -- and living in Hawai'i complicates many mainland business tasks because of time zones for telephone, number of days for FedEx or postal delivery for original documents, etc.

Great insight, "Sweetbeet!" I feel your pain.

[timbo31958]

very true, I was only referring to checking account.

[R_Cowgirl]

Have to agree with Sweetbeet. I'd avoid BOH. I have had many disappointing Customer Service issues with them on several levels and have heard the same from friends.

My recommendation is that you join a Credit Union. The good news is, often Credit Unions will allow you to use other Credit unions in other states to make your deposits and use their ATM's. Check with several to see. You can contact Hawaii Credit Union League HCUL.org and ask for some recommendations. Reason: Banks are going through many stability issues. Credit Unions are holding their own because they are member-owned.

If you insist on a Bank instead, a Bank many don't think of, but one that is absolutely solid is Territorial Savings. It was one of the banks that didn't get into subprime mortgage lending. So when the lava hit the fan, they weren't hurt in the least.

Good Luck!

[R_Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by timbo31958

I dont know much about the situations you describe, but it seems to me that some early planning would take care of those problems. example, I am listed on both my mothers account, (who is up in years) and sons account (who is in the military) as an authorized signer. My name is not printed on the checks but am authorized to sign checks in the event they are no longer able to.

You might want to switch before you HAVE to do anything. I've heard stories like SweetBeets 4 times this week, and I've only been back here since Sunday. Having it in place and having it work are apparently two different things. You have it set up. The others on here have reported what happened when the things they had set up were then needed... Just sayin'