Bankoh loses
round in ATM air
coupon hearing
A state officer rules the bank
By Russ Lynch
is acting as a travel agent by selling
Hawaiian Air coupons
Star-BulletinA state hearings officer has ruled that Bank of Hawaii is acting as a travel agent in selling Hawaiian Airlines interisland travel coupons through the bank's automated teller machines.
Siding with Regal Travel Inc., the official said the bank fits the legal definition of a travel agent.
The bank, which is forbidden by federal law from selling goods such as airline tickets, had argued that all it was doing was providing a service for Hawaiian and acting primarily as a payment agent or transfer agent.
The bank says that because it doesn't own the airline coupons at any point in the process and is just holding them for Hawaiian, it is not a travel agent.
Not so, said Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs hearings officer Richard A. Marshall in his recommendation to Director Kathryn Matayoshi, who must make the final decision.
He said there were "articulate presentations by Bank of Hawaii and Hawaiian Airlines Inc. that sought to artfully minimize the scope of the bank's activities."
But he said the preponderance of evidence was that there is no real difference between the way the bank sells the coupons and the way a travel agent would.
The bank said Marshall's statement was a recommendation, not a decision, "and we will be submitting a response to the director for her consideration."
