Speeding up customs

Today’s announcement that a new ATM machine at the airport will help cut the wait time at customs for returning residents is welcome news. On a bad day, travellers can spend longer in the immigration and customs halls than they did aboard the plane from the East Coast. It’s gratifying to see the calls for something to be done finally being heeded.

But why did the Government decide to implement a scheme that can only be used by people who bank with the Bank of Butterfield?

That’s not to say the rest of us won’t benefit. The new ATM will obviously make the line for the cashiers shorter too. This initiative is a step in the right direction.

However, would it have been any harder to install a kiosk (or preferably, three) that would let you pay with any bank card? Self-service pumps at the gas station allow you to pay with any card. Self-service ticket machines at British railway stations don’t care which bank you're with either.

Why should self-service duty payment machines at the airport be any different?

Comments

[ace on 22.05.06 at 21:40]

As far as it being Bank of Butterfield only, well...neener neener HSBC, a Bermudian bank thought of that one! LOL You GO Bank of Butterfield!

;-)

[SmokingGun on 22.05.06 at 21:45]

"But why did the Government decide to implement a scheme that can only be used by people who bank with the Bank of Butterfield?"

You've got to be kidding. This tit-for-tat oligopoly crap is getting ridiculous.

Well who knows, maybe HSBC will trump them by pre-paying everyone's customs duty for a fat little fee and throw in an escalating people mover to boot.

[novote on 22.05.06 at 22:23]

Limey - This service is really a very tiny innovation on Bank of Butterfields part. What it will do is leverage the same payment infrastructure that already exists within Bank of Butterfield to allow its customers to make bill payments via ATM (Belco, BTC etc).

The only difference will be that every customer will already have this payee (Customs) set-up for use versus their account, and most likely there will be some special menu options on the ATM: both of which are essentially cosmetic.

The reason that the payment terminals will only work for Bank of Butterfield customers is that the payment request via the ATM will only trigger a simple internal funds transfer transaction from one Bank of Butterfield account to another (the traveller's to Customs).

This is what happens for any regular bill-pay transaction, is a bespoke internal process of the Bank of Butterfield, and does not cater for the transaction to be funded from another Bank's account via, say, one of the international card association networks such as VISA, Mastercard etc.

Bank of Bermuda has a very similar and equally constrained bespoke internal process, and it would be extremely straight-forward for it to follow suit versus Bank of Butterfield, if they chose to install ATM's at the airport. However, they would have to install their own ATM machines.

If they wanted to be really clever they would have allowed people to advance pay their duty using online banking before they travel back to Bermuda. Again not a particularly big stretch to do this given that bill-pay functionality already exists on both the Bank of Butterfield and Bank of Bermuda online banking systems.

[novote on 22.05.06 at 22:27]

ace - How long do you think that Bank of Butterfield will be a 'Bermudian' bank? Hmmm, my bet is on a handful of years at most! Your patriotism may be misplaced. Back CAPITAL G if you want to back Bermudian.....or would these be the wrong type of Bermudians?!!!

[SmokingGun on 22.05.06 at 22:43]

?? - What type of Bermudians do you find at Capital G? You?

[novote on 22.05.06 at 22:50]

SG - No.

[novote on 22.05.06 at 22:53]

SG - My comment was an obtuse, slightly cynical and very much tongue-in-cheek reflection on the ownership of the Island's smallest bank...and no you won't find me there other than occasionally as a small time customer.

[SmokingGun on 22.05.06 at 23:05]

Oh. For a moment there I thought you were Grant Gibbons trying to drum up some business. Not really..... ;-)

[Slowhand on 23.05.06 at 00:11]

How many are they putting in? One, two? twenty?
If only a few, will this not only create two lines? Ever been behind someone using the ATM just to get money out? sheesh!! I'm hoping it works.

[Martin on 23.05.06 at 06:52]

How does it cut the wait time?

Have we moved to a system of self assessment....or do Butterfield customers cue like the rest of us for Customs to do the calculation?

Can't see how this helps.

[The Limey on 23.05.06 at 08:13]

novote

I understand what you say. It may be an efficient way of doing things for the Bank of Butterfield, but from the airport's perspective it doesn't seem to be.

Like you say, I'm sure HSBC could do the same thing, but it would require the installation of an HSBC ATM. Then what about Capital G customers? There'd have to be a separate ATM for them too. So then each customer has only one ATM that they can use (assuming they have an account at only one bank). If that ATM is broken, or has run out of receipts, it's back to the regular line for them. Much better to have three generic kiosks that accept any card.

Slowhand

I'm pretty sure it's just a single ATM.

Martin

I believe those who want to use the machine fill out their customs form as normal, then go straight to the ATM and type in the total value of the goods they're bringing in. The ATM deducts the $100 allowance and takes 25% to work out the duty payable, then deducts that directly from the customer's account. A reciept is printed, which you then show to the customs officer by the exit door.

So as Slowhand says, it mean there'll be two queues - one for the machine and one for the cashiers.

[JJ on 23.05.06 at 09:38]

It's a good idea if it does in fact cut down on the time spent queuing to pay, but it does seem strange that the govt have decided to favour only Butterfield customers. Maybe Butterfield went to them with the idea first? Doesn't seem like rocket science though. Does Butterfield charge their customers for using the service? If not presumably they have only done it just to try and win more customer accounts. Still seems like the govt shouldn't be favoring one bank over the others.

[sandgrownan on 23.05.06 at 09:59]

I wept with joy when I read this in The Sun last week. You tell a machine, one of several, how much you've spent, how many people you are claiming for and the currency. It calculates the duty, you swipe, your card, any card, and it pritns a receipt. Perfect.

Today I'm weeping with disbelief that another good idea is right royally fucked up. Now, since I bank with HSBC, I'll have to endure the mindnumbingly slow process of dealing with the lady who has six foot long finger nails.

[Chris Broadhurst on 23.05.06 at 10:06]

Customs could easily avoid ALL the delays by adding a line to the customs form where you put in your visa card number and expiry -allowing them to process the charge later.

Too simple I guess.

[lost in flatts on 23.05.06 at 10:43]

Aren't the much longer delays still in the immigration lines? I know its not so bad for locals like us, but I've had friends come and visit that have spend upwards of 2 hours just trying to get through immigration. And that's before the joys of customs searches. Aren't we supposed to encourage tourism?

[SmokingGun on 23.05.06 at 10:52]

"adding a line to the customs form where you put in your visa card number and expiry -allowing them to process the charge later."

Chris - simple and effective idea, yes. But would you trust these guys with an open-ended trsansaction? "I swear I didn't carry a GE Double Sided Fridge through customs on Feb 17th, 2006. You sure that's my bill?"

[sandgrownan on 23.05.06 at 10:54]

lost in flatts - agreed. I don't understand in the age of bar coded passports why they just can't be swiped.

[SmokingGun on 23.05.06 at 10:57]

Wait a minute. Didn't Paula have something in her budget about hiring 80 odd more people to work for customs? To do what? Fix the ATM?

[loki on 23.05.06 at 11:31]

My understanding is that this is basically an ordinary BNTB ATM machine. What fun it will be to get stuck behind some bastard who insists on carrying out five transactions: transfers from multiple accounts (where they actually withdraw money from the ATM, put it into an envelope and then deposit it back into the ATM for credit to another account [I've witnessed this multiple times]), balance inquiries, mini statements...............

[loki on 23.05.06 at 11:50]

Don't get me wrong - it's a step in the right direction, but for all the hoopla surrounding this, it basically amounts to government opening a BNTB account and BNTB adding Government as a bill payee in the system. I'd also query what happens if you accidentally transfer too much money. Good luck getting a refund, guys and gals: Customs repeatedly wrongly charge my wife customs duty for duty-free medical supplies that she imports via Zip-X. Of course, the duty is charged automatically to her credit card. It's almost impossible to get this money back.

[Tiggy on 23.05.06 at 12:15]

So now the huge queue will be in front of the ONE ATM machine.......I guess BNTB customers can just pick which line is shorter!

Great news though!

[novote on 23.05.06 at 12:49]

Limey - I understand your observations. Am just explaining the reasons. It would be significantly more complicated and costly to come up with the solution that you suggest and also require cooperation between all of the local banks. Aside from the difficulty of trying to get the agendas of the three banks aligned, the cost probably made it infeasible. Personally, I think that they should have installed some Internet enabled PC's with printers in booths at the airport and enhanced the online banking offerings to support these types of payments. This would have enabled any traveller to make their payments per the ATM, but also any local bank that wished to offer the service to do so. Customers could also have pre-paid before returning to Bermuda, which would save even more time.

[SmokingGun on 23.05.06 at 13:37]

How about just putting a little more caffeine in their coffee?

[Don Burgess on 23.05.06 at 16:57]

Actually, according to the Budget, Customs has been given permission to hire 55 more people.

[Martin on 23.05.06 at 19:06]

Phil,

Thanks for the info. Presume you can feed in that you are entitled to 3 lots of $100 allowance, given that you only complete one card per group.

Interesting to see.

[Martin on 23.05.06 at 19:10]

Lost in Flatts...

I just got back from the UK via Newark. There were 11 desks operating in Immigration at Newark - yet it still took 1 hr 18 minutes to get to a desk.

All that because both morning Continental flights to BDA leave before the Uk flight gets in, so you have to spend a night in dear old Newark.

[SmokingGun on 23.05.06 at 19:30]

Thanks Don. I thought 80 might have been high. Still I wonder what they are all going to be doing with 55 added..

[Lisa on 24.05.06 at 15:46]

Ha ha! Anyone who banks with HSBC, the world's worst bank, deserves to stand in line.

Thanks to them, palm oil companies can cut down orang-utan habitat in Indonesia and 1 million people can be displaced by a huge Chinese dam.

Stand in line you funders of global destruction you! STAND IN LINE!

L.

[Wickering Banker :-) ---: on 24.05.06 at 15:54]

I understand from a reliable source that HSBC was invited to put an ATM there too - and declined.

[Wickering Banker :-) ---: on 24.05.06 at 15:55]

Last couple of years since the take over, service has gone to crap.

[sandgrownan on 24.05.06 at 16:11]

That's a little harsh, i was a BoB customer first, HSBC second. It's a bank. They all suck. they charge you for the privilege of you lending them your money. Wankers the lot of them.

[Lisa on 24.05.06 at 17:14]

sandgrownan - is it impossible to switch to BNTB?

And no, they don't all suck quite so much as HSBC.

STAND IN LINE! :-D

[peter j on 24.05.06 at 17:43]

what a tinpot solution.........unbelievable! paula cox stands up at the press conference and then goes on at length about exhaustive and significicant cooperation between the governemnt dept and private business to bring an innovative solution to the people'. !!!

who are u kidding.?

can u image a govt anywhere claiming this as a success when it ONLY works for certain bank customers!? they havent done squat - it is simply an atm put there by one private company. this govt is crooked thru and thru claiming 'success after successs'. spin all the way.

as someone said previously here - cox should shut up and get lost until govy has come up with something truly serving the people such as online customs payment for ALL and from overseas!

jeeeez - i despair of this lot.

pj

[novote on 24.05.06 at 19:43]

HSBC probably realised that the ATM 'innovation' wouldn't actually help improve the experience of their customers at Customs anyway.

All it may serve to do is reduce some of the resource needs of Customs at the expense of Bank of Butterfield, who will have to service the ATM!

Again.....Customs duty payments online would be much better, but Chris Broadhurst's idea of simply adding a section on the Customs form to allow travellers to include their credit card number seems like the best that I've heard.

It would cost very little to implement.

[Adjustah on 24.05.06 at 20:06]

"How about just putting a little more caffeine in their coffee?"

Or people who have been fired from TCD or the Bank?

[Adjustah on 24.05.06 at 20:13]

Ooops. Hire, that is...

[sandgrownan on 25.05.06 at 08:44]

Lisa - that would mean I have to get off my fat ass and walk down to the bank ad fill out more forms and stuff. i don't think so!

[Raptor on 25.05.06 at 08:55]

My last two flights down, I was in the Immigration line for 50 minutes. The hall was mostly full. I've never experienced that length of time anywhere else (not even Newark!). Maybe if the Customs experience wasn't on top of such a long haul in the first place, we wouldn't care so much about how we pay--not that improvement isn't needed.

[Two Cents on 25.05.06 at 13:51]

My wife & I flew back into the island earlier this week, on the US Air flight at arrives that approx. 2:00pm from Boston, I have to note that;
(i) There was no other flights on the ground at that time
(ii) Our flight was full, but mostly tourists;
(iii) In the immigration hall there were three Immigration Officers to serve 12-15 local passengers

My wife & I were through Customs & Immigration in less than 10 minutes, even after paying a King’s (actually a Queens) Ransom for the goods purchased overseas. I tried to use the BNTB machine but it wasn't working yet, although no-one bothered to tell you that until you went up to use the ATM machine. !!

It can be done, however you must just be lucky enough to have your arrival time just right.

[SmokingGun on 25.05.06 at 14:10]

What we know:
1: Every month Bermudians purchase more and more products abroad.
2: Certain times of the year are even heavier. (Holidays, long week-ends etc.)
3: What time the planes land.
4: How many employees we have.
5: How flex-time works.

What do we do?
1: Put in an ATM that only works for people who have accounts in one bank.

What would I do?
1: Expand the customs counter and use flex-time management.
2: Hire the skilled Trimingham employees laid off when it closed.
3: Put out to bid a comprehensive pre-pay program that offers a universal account.
4: Have a proper "nothing to declare" program with severe penalties for miss-use. (To be declared at initial contact with passport control.)

[peterj on 27.05.06 at 13:56]

smoking - of course you wld - but u and i know this will never happen whilst the civil servant metality (ie NOT private enterprise mentality) is in place in customs.

the mentality is ....'i aint rockin the boat bye coz i may lose my job and pension and restricted working practises if i come up with an improvenment or efficiency saving....'

effin comedians....... fire the lot and put decent management in place.

pj