Greg Takeshima

I had State Farm Insurance when I first purchased my motorcycle. I wasn't sure who insured
motorcycles at the time so I went with the company that I hear about from other motorcycle
riders. They all said that if you don't have many tickets to your name then State Farm is
usually the cheapest. I called my local State Farm agent and signed up so that my
motorcycle had insurance. After doing some online searches I found a cheaper deal on
insurance though my union. I only had State Farm for about a month and a half so I can't
really say it was good or bad. 4 stars because I like to give them the benefit of the
doubt.

Big Island FCU is a small credit union on the Big Island of Hawaii. I have had a savings
account here since I could remember and always used to go there with my grandparents. The
great thing about this credit union is that they are a very small credit union and they
remember nearly all of their members by name. I used to have a car loan with them so every
month I would have to go in to pay the loan; after a few months they remembered my name
and account number so that I wouldn't have to pull out my ID. I know that may seem a
little unsafe but when you see someone that often and you recognize them it isn't that big
of a deal.

I had Island Insurance as my main home insurance company for a year after I had stopped my
coverage with Allstate. Island Insurance had several local commercials on and they seemed
like a very locally oriented insurance company so I decided to give them a chance. I
contacted one of their agents who helped me set up enough coverage for my apartment. The
prices were pretty competitive compared to Allstate so I stuck with them for over a year.
I didn't have any incidences with my apartment so I really have no say about how their
claims department is. All in all, a decent local company.

I recently obtained a personal loan from Hawaii USA FCU. I needed some money to do my
Christmas shopping and found that they have the most competitive rates for personal
unsecured loans. I have quite a few loans out already (mortgage, car loan) so I wasn't
quite sure if they would be able to assist me with the loan. I did most of the paperwork
online which saved me a great deal of time. They recently opened two locations in town so
that makes it much more convenient to get to them and pay them on time. As with my other
reviews I do love credit unions over big banks, they're just so much easier to work with
and have much more competitive rates.

The local Farmers Insurance commercials are quirky and have some pretty poor CGI in them
but they seemed like a cool local company. Farmers Insurance has a lot of commercials in
local television and ads so I decided to try them out for my car insurance company. Their
prices were in line with pretty much every other insurance agency but were probably a
little on the higher side. I stayed with them for approximately a year and switched over.
There were never really any issues and when I first signed up they actually called me to
determine and get an actual read on what features were associated with the car, what
coverage I was looking for, etc. Good company trying to save me money so I appreciated
that.

I used Hickam FCU to purchase the apartment I'm currently in. They are one of the few
credit unions that do an 80-10-10 mortgage loan (that is 80% financed with a conventional
1st mortgage, 10% down and 10% on a home equity line of credit). They were pretty easy to
work with. They way I became a member was that I was a part of a church in the Ewa Plain.
My only gripe is that I couldn't set up an automatic bill pay account with them at the
time of opening a loan, so when I was on a vacation and got stranded by Hurricane Sandy, I
needed a friend to send out my HELOC payment for me.

I have a Honolulu Federal Credit Union Checking account and it is much like other FCU
accounts. They are relatively convenient being open on Saturdays. I am a member because my
fiancée is a current member so I'm not sure what their member conditions are. Whenever I
go there they are quite friendly and help me with all my banking needs. I haven't had a
chance to get to use their loan service but I may transfer over my car loan to them if
their rates are competitive. I know their checking share rates are pretty comparable to my
main credit union (Hawaii State FCU) so I do keep a fair share of my money here as well.
Overall, a good place to keep your checkings.

This is a rather small credit union with a membership which is open to people who work in
the health care industry. They have two small branches, one off of King St. and another on
the Queen's Medical Center Campus in the Harkness building, next to the cafeteria. The
tellers are very accommodating and helpful because they are a small credit union and you
get to know them all. They use First Hawaiian Bank ATMs and they are pretty prevalent (in
all 7-11's) so that's a positive. Their rates are relatively competitive compared with the
larger credit unions but don't expect the best rate out there

I recently had my mortgage redone by Aloha Pacific Credit Union. They helped me by getting
me the best possible rate, without me having to shop around and deal with shady mortgage
companies. It took a while for everything to come together but Vim Balantac was always on
it trying to get me the most up to date information. As usual, signing the mortgages took
quite a while but Vim went over each page with me so I knew what I was signing, unlike the
first time I got a mortgage. After all was said and done, my old mortgage was a 5.25% 30
year mortgage, the new is at 3.99% and I received negative points, so I was paid a little
bit on the side.

I only have a small account here and I only get to go to this credit union once in a great
while but I like it here because it is such a small credit union. I believe to join this
credit union you just need to live on the Big Island of Hawaii so that makes it pretty
simple to join. CU Hawaii only has 2 branches if I'm not mistaken so it's not nearly as
big as a lot of other credit unions that I'm with. Whenever I go there they still
remember my name and my account number so that makes it very convenient. I have not used
their loan products so I can't compare those but I do look at their rates from time to
time and they do have some pretty competitive loan rates as well as share rates.

UHFCU is a great credit union. Open 6 days a week unlike a lot of credit unions. The
tellers are very helpful and very knowledgeable. In Hawaii they probably have the best
rates available for both savings as well as auto loans. I am a huge fan of credit unions
and this one is probably my favorite. They also helped me with obtaining my mortgage as
well as get a home equity line of credit as part of an 80-10-10 mortgage loan. Very
helpful mortgage staff! I highly recommend them if you are a part of the university of
Hawaii system.

I use the Hawaii State Federal Credit Union because I am an employee of the state of
Hawaii. HSFCU is a great credit union because they are quite a large presence in Hawaii.
When I need to come in to a branch there are quite a few all across the island; 2 in town,
1 in Mililani, 1 in Pearl Kai, 1 on the windward side. I can also use my debit card and
take cash out at any Bank of Hawaii ATM, although they aren't quite as plentiful as they
used to be because 7-11's now use First Hawaiian Bank ATMs. The HSFCU also has decent
rates for savings, mortgages, and car loans so they are usually the first place I go to
look to borrow money.

I had my auto insurance with GEICO for several years. During my time with GEICO I had a
2003 Mazda Protege. I had full coverage on the vehicle (I probably should've pared that
down to basic) during the entire stay with GEICO. I had only one incident which was a car
break-in. The thief stole my car's stereo and a few coins. At that point I had a $500
deductible and the stereo wasn't nearly that expensive so I decided not to pursue GEICO
for the insurance money. During the investigation they were very courteous and helpful to
tell me what my options were. I found out that I was able to switch insurance companies
and would be able to get direct deductions from my paycheck so I switched my insurance
company.

I had Progressive insurance (full coverage, comprehensive, and collision) for my 2004
CBR600RR. Signing up was extremely easy with their online application. In 2007 my
motorcycle was stolen and I was able to get my insurance money relatively quickly. The
claim took about 2 weeks from beginning to end so that was good. An adjuster came to
visit me and help me through the process. Progressive was a good company to work with
through the ordeal because they came through quickly. I ultimately moved insurance
companies but I would not have any issues with going back to Progressive for my motorcycle
insurance again.

I've had Chase as a bank for a while but I decided to go with one of their rewards credit
cards because I didn't have a Visa rewards card (I have the Costco AMEX and the Discover
More card). They were a decently good bank, not too much praise but a bank none-the-less
with normal banking issues and catches. The card I signed up for was the Chase Sapphire
Preferred card. After spending $3000 in 3 months (I think) I received 40,000 points to
use how I saw fit. That was nice, but after a year I was hit with a $95 annual fee. I
noticed that the annual fee was only for the preferred card so I switched over to the
Chase Sapphire and haven't looked back. Good card with decent rewards and more accepted
than AMEX or Discover.

I had a loan with Wells Fargo through a local furniture store called Homeworld. The
paperwork was pretty straight forward, they pulled my credit to make sure that I could pay
and gave me a $3300 limit to spend in the store. I only purchased about $1800 worth of
furniture though. The load was a revolving loan so that I could go back into the store
and purchase more items if I needed to but luckily I didn't. I got this loan so that I
could receive the 0% interest for 12 months. After that the interest would jump up to
around 15% I believe. In any case I had no real problems with Wells Fargo Loan Dept.

Territorial Savings Bank is a smaller bank in Hawaii. There are a few locations sprinkled
around Honolulu and they are relatively close to areas which I frequent so I opened a
savings account with them. They have the standard application process with your social
security number etc. Their minimum balance isn't very different from other banks. What
separates Territorial from other larger Hawaii banks is the quality of service. They do
treat the customers very well and are almost always upbeat. They have free coffee if
you're waiting in line and they tend to all your needs. Their tellers are knowledgeable
about the services they offer so that is always a plus. The only bummer is that they have
very low interest rates for savings accounts so if you're a rate watcher you may want to
skip them.

I have a Bank of the Orient account because I used to work in the downtown/Chinatown
district. The had quite a few branches in the area so it was easy for me to get to their
branches. What they lacked in hours they more than made up for in customer service and
catering to my needs. All of their tellers were very courteous and gave me all the
information I needed. They didn't have a lot of presence as far as ATMs but it was okay
since I rarely needed to bank outside of banking hours. Now that I no longer work in the
downtown area I still have the account but it is at a minimum but the teller still
remember me by name whenever I do need to come in to do some transactions.

I have a Bank of America savings account because before I decided on a college to attend I
wanted to have access to a large bank with ATMs and branches across the nation. Bank of
America was a big enough bank to fill that role. Unfortunately I did not need the country
wide access to Bank of America because I ultimately stayed home for college. In any case
Bank of America has good tellers that provide enough information to their customers.
Their policies are much like any other bank so it's very much the same. The only problem
is that here in Hawaii they aren't as many branches as the local banks (BOH, CPB, ASB,
etc.). When I do travel to the mainland I do use their branches as needed though so that
is a plus.

I have a Hawaii National Bank savings account and it was much like any other bank account.
To me nothing really stands out about Hawaii National Bank. I can only really think of
negatives like few ATMs, few actual branches and limited banking hours. Much like other
banks their interest rates are very very low but that's not really a fault of theirs.

Being that they are a much smaller bank than other banks in Hawaii it is easier to get to
know the bank tellers because there are a lot fewer branches to go to. I'm familiar with
the Kapalama Branch and they are quite friendly there. I had a slight issue with their
application process because for some reason they needed a copy of my social security card.
I want to like this bank because it's a very small bank and I do root for underdogs but
convenience is key.

I've only had a First Hawaiian Bank account for about 6 years (ever since I moved away
from home). There are a few issues that I have with First Hawaiian, most of their
locations aren't open as long as other banks that I have reviewed. They don't have
in-store branches which does limit the availability of First Hawaiian. I believe their
hours are around regular work hours too (9-6 maybe?). They do have one very redeeming
quality though. Their ATMs are at all the 7-11's throughout Hawaii. This is huge,
especially since I live near a few of them so depending on which direction I'm going I can
withdraw what I need for the day. Their staff is pretty friendly and knowledgeable
regarding their products and I can't say that I have had any real issues with the savings
account that I have there. Their rates are rather noncompetitive but what do you expect
coming from prime rates that are at 0%.

I had a Bank of Hawaii Free Checking Account since I've been about 10 years old. My
father used to work at Bank of Hawaii so he was the one who actually set up the checking
account. I'm a big fan of Bank of Hawaii because of their locations. I work right across
the street of a Bank of Hawaii Branch and my credit union uses their ATMs as well so it's
a bit more convenient. I've also had personal loans with Bank of Hawaii and their staff
was very courteous and helped me when I was purchasing a motorcycle. Their tellers are
very knowledgeable and have helped me when I needed to cash a few US savings bonds. I'm
giving them 5 stars because they are just about as convenient as American Savings Bank but
closer in proximity to my work.

I've had an account with American Savings Bank ever since I can remember. They are
especially convenient since nearly all of their branches are open 7 days a week.
Currently I'm trying to work with them to update my home equity line of credit (HELOC) to
take advantage of one of their specials. I believe it's 0.99% APR for one year.
Whenever I go into any American Savings Bank I'm greeted by one of their many professional
staff and am usually in and out rather quickly, unlike some local banks. The waits are
usually under 5 minutes and the transactions are usually very smooth with the staff being
able to assist me in what I usually need. Their rates are usually pretty comparable to
other local banks but the convenience is what gets me in their door.

A couple of my friends used to work at their mortgage section of CPB so I received my loan
through them. They were very courteous and helped me all the way through the home buying
process. Dates for schedules were worked around my calendar and the employees were very
helpful. I don't have any other types of accounts with CPB but that is because I do all
my other financial transactions at credit unions. I had no problems with CPB during my
loan applications and they spelled out the legal jargon so that the layman could
understand it. I would like to try and take advantage of the lower rates right now and
re-finance my mortgage. I hope they will be just as helpful this time as last.