Unavailability of Mainland Banks

So, if you live in Hawaii, you probably noticed that there is not a single branch of major banks from the mainland. That includes Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, etc. You get the idea. There is one Chase ATM on Oahu inside the Aulani Hotel in Ko’olina. You can only withdraw cash from it, and you cannot make any deposits. That’s pretty much it for mainland bank presence here in Hawaii.

Your choices here are all Hawaiian banks not available in the mainland. Here’s a list of major banks in Hawaii:

First Hawaiian Bank – http://www.fhb.com

Bank of Hawaii – http://www.boh.com

Central Pacific Bank – http://www.centralpacificbank.com

I am sure there are other options available on the islands, but I see ATMs all over town from these 3 banks, so for convenience, one of these 3 may be the way to go. You can create accounts online from all 3 banks listed above, so it might be a good idea to do this before you move to the island.

I opened an account at Central Pacific when I moved here. They have free checking and savings so it’s pretty good. I haven’t had any problems with them, but as is the standard with new accounts at any bank, until you establish a relationship with them, they withhold funds available from deposited checks for a week, so it’s a good idea to plan for this. They also have cheap notary services for $5 if you are an account holder with them, so it’s nice if you need this service.

If you insist on using mainland banks, it’s not too inconvenient to withdraw money, but it is a bit tough to make deposits. I had to keep my Chase account for business reasons. Although I can withdraw money from my Chase account from most ATMs on the island, I have to pay a non-Chase ATM usage fee. Not too big of a deal. Making deposits is another matter entirely. Believe it or not, I deposit my checks by mail.

Chase has this service called “Chase by Mail.” You basically mail them the check you want to deposit through snail mail, and a week later, it shows up on your account as having been deposited. It’s OK if you can handle not having funds available for a week, but it’s very inconvenient since you have to write a letter each time with instructions to deposit the check in the specified account number. I was also uncomfortable with the fact that I was sending checks through the US Postal Service, but I have not had any problems so far with lost mail. Nonetheless, the whole experience makes me feel like I am using banking service from the Dark Ages.

This last tidbit is not really related to banks, but the best place to exchange currency (foreign or US dollars) is at the DFS Galleria in Waikiki on Kalakaua and Lewers St. They don’t charge a service fee, and you can get your parking validated for an hour if you use this service. The only stipulation is that they will only let you change up to $1,000 a day. The parking is kind of whack, as you have to go from Kalakaua, make a left on Lewers St, and then make a right after you pass Gyukaku into this narrow alley way with a sign that says “Public Parking”. Kind of hard to find since they don’t tell you it’s public parking for the DFS Galleria.

Hope that helped! Thanks for reading.