For First Hawaiian Bank customers, the future is now.
The new Waiakea Branch, which opens today in the former Blockbuster Video building on the Puainako Street end of Prince Kuhio Plaza in Hilo, features the next-generation of branch design with the introduction of innovative video teller technology, the first of its kind in Hawaii.
Bob Harrison, FHB chairman, president and CEO, said the video tellers and other technological innovations in the newly opened 6,000-square-foot branch are designed to enhance the customer experience.
“We’ll be able to have face-to-face interactions with our customers on extended hours, so that’s a plus for us, from a customer service standpoint,” Harrison said Friday. The video teller machines can accept and dispense cash and coins in any denomination up to $100 bills.
There are two video tellers in the building’s entryway, which feature two-way videoconferencing between customers and live, actual bank tellers, who through computer and digital video technology can perform the same transactions as a live teller. The video tellers are available Monday through Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m., while the branch’s actual business hours are 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday.
In addition to convenience, the video tellers also offer added privacy. A customer, if he or she chooses, can use a device resembling a telephone receiver so others nearby can’t hear the video teller during the transaction.
The circular vestibule area also features two image-enabled automated teller machines, which offer more convenience than the conventional ATMs currently in use at other branches. The vestibule is open and the ATMs available 24/7. The next-gen ATMs eliminate the need for deposit envelopes for transactions, according to Christopher Togami, FHB’s operations officer for service delivery.
“In the ATM, where you would normally slide in your envelope, you insert your cash and your checks,” he said. “You can insert it in a single stack; you don’t even have to separate it. What the machine does is count your cash and image your checks and that will go into the system.”
The lobby itself features a more open look than in the past, with the customary line of teller windows replaced by two customer service pods, each with two service consultant stations.
“There’s no barrier between the customers and the tellers,” Harrison said. “This is the first branch we’ve had this at, as well.” Asked about security, Harrison replied, “They don’t have cash drawers. Everything goes into a machine in the back. Our employees’ safety is paramount.”
Entry to the safe deposit box area is biometrically controlled by a scan of a customer’s hand. In addition, the new branch offers customers free Wi-Fi.
“The world has changed so much with technology. We just want to make that convenience for them,” Harrison explained. “We’re trying to have a more technological focus with this branch, so that was an easy addition to it.”
Saturday banking is still available at FHB’s Hilo Branch in the Hilo Shopping Center. The new Waiakea Branch replaces the former Kamehameha Branch in downtown Hilo, which closed Friday.
“We’ll still have an ATM there,” Harrison said of the downtown location.
A reason for that branch’s closure was the demographic shift of the business and residential population away from downtown and the large number of Puna residents working in Hilo whose daily commute takes them by the Waiakea Branch, Harrison explained.
Christopher Dods, FHB senior vice president for marketing and communications, said the timing of the Waiakea Branch’s opening made it the logical choice for the unveiling of the next-gen technology.
“We’ve been looking at the technology for awhile, studying it, seeing when we wanted to enter the market with it,” he said. “We felt that the timing was right. It’s a proven concept on the mainland and the next new branch happened to be Waiakea, so we employed these innovations here.”
Chuck Erskine, vice president and area manager, is the manager of the new Waiakea Branch, moving there from the Hilo branch. Don Kouchi, the former Kamehameha Branch manager, replaces Erskine as the Hilo Branch manager.
Harrison said all Kamehameha Branch employees have been reassigned to other branches.
The new branch offers a full complement of personal, business and private banking services, plus investments, insurance and wealth advisory services.
The branch is hosting a grand opening celebration today with prize giveaways and refreshments. There are also special offers on products and services through the end of December, the bank said in a statement.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-
herald.com.
