Bankoh branch moving

Bank of Hawaii’s University branch is moving to a new site June 5 at 2470 S. King St. and will occupy 2,900 square feet in the new Moiliili Longs/CVS Drug Store set to open that same day. The current University branch is at 1010 University Ave. This will be the bank’s first co-branding branch partnership with Longs/CVS. Hours will be 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

First Hawaiian aids Japanese citizens

First Hawaiian Bank will donate $25,000 to the Aloha Initiative, and all of its branches will serve as collection points, said First Hawaiian Vice Chairman Ray Ono.

Those interested in contributing to the effort may do so at any First Hawaiian branch in Hawaii, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands through June 30.

The Aloha Initiative is a program of the Japanese Cultural Society of Maui to provide citizens of Japan displaced by the March earthquake and tsunami and nuclear crisis with a home in the islands.

Japanese residents selected for the program will be done on the basis of greatest personal need and circumstance and will be flown to Hawaii and spend up to 90 days with host families.

The Aloha Initiative will pay for ground and air transportation to and from Hawaii.

BofA $410M overdraft settlement OK’d

A Florida court has given preliminary approval to Bank of America Corp.’s $410 million settlement of a federal lawsuit accusing the bank of charging excessive overdraft fees.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank will place $410 million in an escrow account that will be divided among 1 million customers who were charged the high fees.

The Southern District Court of Florida granted preliminary approval for the settlement, according to a court filing Monday. A hearing has been set for Nov. 7 for final approval.

The bank had reached the settlement in February.

In the lawsuit, consumers alleged the bank processed its debit card and check payments in a way that caused more overdrafts.

Customers pay overdraft fees when they spend more money than they have in their accounts.

Similar suits against Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank and American Savings Bank are pending in Hawaii.

Troubled banks reach 18-year high

WASHINGTON » The number of banks at risk of failing made up nearly 12 percent of all federally insured banks in the first three months of 2011, the highest level in 18 years.

That proportion is about the same as in the October-December quarter last year, though the increase in the number of banks on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s confidential "problem" list is slowing.

The FDIC added only four banks to its list in the January-March quarter. That brought the total to 888 from 884. Banks on the list are deemed by examiners to have very low capital cushions against risk.

Yahoo ready to upgrade email

SAN FRANCISCO » Yahoo Inc. is giving its popular email service a long-promised face lift in an attempt to make it more appealing to people who are increasingly using Facebook, Twitter, Google and other online alternatives to communicate.

The changes announced Tuesday build upon a redesigned email format that Yahoo began testing seven months ago. The estimated 277 million users of Yahoo’s free email service will be switched to the new version during the next few weeks.

The overhaul will enable updates to Facebook and Twitter accounts to be posted from within Yahoo’s email boxes. The revamped service is supposed to be two times faster and capable of sending attachments of up to 100 megabytes. Other tools include better junk-mail controls and the ability to chat with friends and family logged into Facebook. Yahoo is counting on the changes to help attract and retain email users at a time when more people are flocking to the rival Gmail service run by Internet search leader Google Inc.

On the Move

Lui K. Hokoana has been named associate vice president for student affairs for the University of Hawaii system. He will lead the Office of Student Affairs, which provides systemwide
development and coordination of student affairs procedures and policies. Hokoana has served as vice chancellor for student affairs at Windward Community College, director of the Liko A‘e Native Hawaiian Scholarship Program and a counselor at Maui Community
College.

Chaminade University has announced four new regents: James Kraus, Chaminade faculty senate president and English professor; Dr. Laurie K.S. Tom, assistant clinical professor of medicine at UH John A. Burns School of Medicine; Shelley Wilson, founder and president of Wilson Homecare; and Hoyt H. Zia, senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Hawaiian Airlines.

Bank of Hawaii Foundation has announced the following nonprofits as 2011 Mike Lyons Maui Community Award Recipients: Community Clinic of Maui, dba Malama i ke Ola Health Center, received $5,000. Hale Mahaolu Akahi and Hui Malama Learning Center were each awarded $10,000.

E.L. Wiegand Foundation of Reno, Nev., has approved a grant of $497,000 to Chaminade’s School of Nursing. The grant will fund the adult, birthing and child/
infant simulators as well as Education Management Solutions for the university’s nursing education program.