13 May 2009

Bank of Hawaii in American Samoa is not changing its credit policies for now

10:49 am on 13 May 2009

In American Samoa, the Bank of Hawaii is not tightening or changing its credit policies at this point in time.

General manager Brian Glass says its business as usual and there have been no changes in loan policies.

But ANZ Amerika Samoa bank recently increased the down payment for auto loans.

Mr Glass says Bank of Hawaii has always been a conservative bank taking extra steps to ensure that borrowers have the ability to pay back their loans.

He says the banks feels its current underwriting is sufficient and does not see a need to make any changes.

Mr Glass says Bank of Hawaii is concerned about the impact of the Samoa Packing closure as the cannery makes a large contribution to the local economy.

He says any impact will not likely be felt until after the cannery closes in September.