Location:
Waikiki, Hawaii

Benefits Summary:
A branch of the future: a two-story, electronic branch that also readily accommodates the needs of any customer requiring face-to-face contact

For many years a seven-story building on Kalakaua Avenue-the Madison Avenue of Waikiki-housed a landmark branch of the Bank of Hawaii. But after a long, successful history in the midst of a community rich in tourists, hotels, and retail stores, the Waikiki branch recently found itself facing the loss of its long-time home.

Fortunately, this is a case where the silver lining is much more enduring than the cloud. Loss turned into opportunity as Buffalo, N.Y.-based consulting firm Verdi & Company proposed a plan to transform the enormous traditional branch into a mecca of modernity. Diebold executed the sweeping plan to create the branch of the future: a two-story, electronic branch that also readily accommodates the needs of any customer requiring face-to-face contact.

When the Waikiki branch's lease came up for renewal a couple of years ago at a significantly elevated rent, Bank of Hawaii began searching for new quarters in the vicinity. A few blocks away it found an appealing two-story space, with much less square footage. As part of a delivery network optimization study by Verdi & Company of all Bank of Hawaii branches, the consulting firm carefully considered new sales, service and transaction configuration possibilities for the Waikiki branch.

Gerald Verdi, the firm's president, explains, "We needed to redesign the facility to match the current and future delivery channel needs of the customers. We also needed to keep the branch very distinctive and competitive while lowering costs significantly." After carefully studying the market, Verdi & Company found a way to accomplish all of these goals simultaneously.

Diebold could improve efficiency.
The firm determined that a complete branch redesign, incorporating Diebold self-service and other automated technologies, could radically improve efficiency. "Previously," Verdi says, "the branch had a traditional branch design: a long teller line, crammed platform and meeting rooms on the first and second floor." Regardless of their needs, customers entering the branch had little choice but to get into the teller line.

Today, Verdi says, interaction with customers at the branch has actually increased, despite the profusion of Diebold self-service technologies. Right up front is a customer service counter staffed by Bank of Hawaii Branch Concierges ready to help the customers. "Immediately upon entry, you are greeted and asked what you would like to do," says Verdi. "The branch now offers attended customer interaction and far more customer transaction choices."

The electronic wall and beyond.
Under the Verdi & Company solution, the ground floor has become transaction and mass-market oriented . Today it includes a 24-hour electronic self-service wall, a functional service counter, Diebold RemoteTeller™ Systems and a small sales platform. "For customers who want to get in and out, perform routine tasks, obtain account or product information or have a very short conversation, all that can be accomplished on the first floor," says Verdi.

In a 24-hour vestibule, which Bank of Hawaii has branded the "BankLanai", Diebold's advanced-function ATMs cash checks to the penny and dispense inter-island airline coupons. "The bank is very progressive in their thinking about uses and functions of the electronic wall," says Verdi. "They see in the ATM an opportunity not just to dispense routine things, but also to act as an online fulfillment point in the near future."

Also in the vestibule are a foreign exchange machine, which can exchange up to 20 different currencies to dollars at the bank's current rate of exchange for a minimum fee, and a Diebold Merchant Banking Center™, which is the first online interactive terminal to run third-party ACI software. The Merchant Banking Center is a card-activated service that accepts commercial deposits and dispenses currency and rolled coin.

During the day, the electronic wall becomes part of the regular branch as the sliding glass door that separates it simply folds back into the branch wall. Beyond the electronic wall on the first floor are the branch's Virtual Tellers, Bank of Hawaii's name for its Diebold RemoteTeller stations. The Virtual Tellers offer customers a pneumatic tubing system with two-way audio/video to connect them to tellers on the second floor. During lulls in the transaction, the screen runs CNN and ESPN updates or Bank selected advertisements to help cross-sell products.

A paragon of modern efficiency.
Like the first floor, the second floor is a paragon of modern efficiency. The four RemoteTeller stations on the first floor are staffed by two tellers who are located on the second floor in a back office work area. The second floor also houses a service counter, private offices for new account openings and account servicing for small-business services, international services, investments and safe deposit box access. Attended teller stations are available for those customers who are in need of face to face transactions.

Due to a weight limitation and the unique logistics of the second floor area, a Diebold Light Weight Modular Vault was selected and installed to house the safe deposit boxes. The installation process was challenging. The vault panels needed to be delivered through the existing second floor windows and each vault panel was laid in position, then welded piece by piece on site.

Speed, risk reduction and cost savings.
Diebold technology is a key element of the new streamlined branch operations on this floor, too. For example, to enhance the speed of the teller transaction, Diebold's Express Delivery™ XT sits behind the teller line and automates the cash-counting function. And the RTS configuration means significant risk reduction, since the technology puts an entire floor between street-level customer traffic and the tellers.

It also means cost savings. "On the second floor, the square footage is much less expensive," points out Debbie Lim, account manager at Diebold. "We've maximized the bank's money by having to use only a certain amount of the more expensive storefront space."

Populated with Diebold technologies and benefiting from Verdi & Company's groundbreaking reconfiguration, the Waikiki branch has quickly realized extraordinary improvements. Not only have operating expenses declined dramatically, but sales have increased as well. At the same time, customer options in the redesigned branch have increased-and naturally, so has customer satisfaction.

A plan comes together.
Verdi notes, "A customer can perform a transaction in an attended manner on the second floor, go to the electronic wall, use the RemoteTeller System, go to the customer service counter or enjoy service at a platform." He adds, "We didn't take anything away from the customer; we just reconfigured the branch, made sure that the components were far more congruent with what the customer needed and wanted, and redesigned it in a smaller space."

The design taps a market ripe for automation. "Hawaii is filled with very self-service-oriented customers," says Verdi. "The banks-and Bank of Hawaii particularly-have done a tremendous job of educating customers on convenience. The bank really latched onto all the behavioral elements that we found and crafted a progressive strategy that has enabled the Waikiki branch to be very successful, right away."

As part of the Optimization Plan for the Bank of Hawaii Waikiki District, a new sales office was also opened on the east side of Waikiki. This Sales office was designed similar to the Bank's current in-store branches. There are two Customer Sales Associates that team together to open new accounts, service customers, and demonstrate and support the self-service BankLanai. They are especially successful because they converse with and assist the Japanese clients.

The BankLanai services include a Diebold Merchant Banking Center and advanced-function ATM. The advanced-function ATM provides the traditional ATM transactions plus cashes checks to the penny for Bank of Hawaii customers. A "Super Teller Card" was created by Bob Makahilahila, vice president, Electronic Banking Division, to provide bank personnel with "assisted"check cashing at the ATM. This was an excellent channel to reduce the wait of customers in line at peak times, allow for check cashing at branches that have only a sales office and ATMs, and provides customer education and training for the "unassisted" customer check cashing transaction.