News - Press Releases

May 29, 2007
Livewire Speeds Travelers Through Customs

Speed, convenience, and accuracy insure success

York, PA—May 29, 2007—Livewire International, Inc. is pleased to announce the successful deployment of a unique transactional kiosk solution at the L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda. The kiosks automatically calculate customs duty amounts in a number of different currencies and allow travelers to pay their duty via debit or credit card directly at the kiosk.

”With Bermudian’s being some of the most heavily traveled people on the planet, the queues of returning passengers in Customs can sometimes become quite lengthy. The Bank of Bermuda, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and the Department of Customs, began looking for opportunities to improve the accuracy and speed of the process in 2006 and decided that a self-service solution was the best option. Then after a thorough search of potential software partners, the Bank of Bermuda chose Livewire to design and create a custom self-service solution to meet the Bank and Government’s stringent requirements for security and ease of use.

The result is a kiosk solution that allows returning travelers (both residents and non-residents) to bypass the lines at the Customs Desk and declare and pay duty taxes at self-service kiosks. Four kiosks, installed in the Customs Hall, lead travelers through a process of declaring items purchased abroad by entering quantities and amounts as defined by the paper Declaration Form. A rules-based engine converts the entered currencies into Bermuda dollars and calculates any duty required on the purchases. The traveler then inserts a debit/credit card and authorizes the payment by signing a signature capture device. A payment receipt is then printed, which the traveler submits to a Customs Officer when leaving the Arrivals Hall.

Chief Operating Officer at the Bank of Bermuda, Michael Collins, noted, “We have developed a system that will serve all arriving customers and is a significant enhancement to the current procedures.” Richard Brown, Head of Personal Financial Services added, “Since introducing the terminals we have been averaging around 100 transactions a day using the four terminals. Reaction from the public has been hugely positive and queues to pay duty have all but diminished.”

David McCracken, Livewire’s President said, “We were extremely pleased and excited at the prospect of working with a financial institution of the caliber of the Bank of Bermuda on this project. In addition to being extremely helpful to Bermuda travelers, this system is another opportunity to showcase our expertise in the development of transactional self-service solutions.”

About Bank of Bermuda
Founded in 1889, Bank of Bermuda is the leading provider of fund administration, trust, custody, asset management and banking services in Bermuda. Since 2004 it has been a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc. Further information on Bank of Bermuda can be found at www.bankofbermuda.com. Information on HSBC can be found at www.hsbc.com.

About Livewire
Livewire is an award-winning leader in interactive technology based in York, Pennsylvania. Livewire, a Microsoft Certified Partner, specializes in self-service solutions including ticketing, gift card dispensing, gift registries, electronic concierge, and human resource portals. Livewire provides integration into a multitude of devices such as kiosks, ATMs, and handheld devices, while providing the ability to remotely monitor each device and manage the content available from each unit.