Keep more money in local Hawaiʻi business.
Our Story & Goal.
Keep Hawaiʻi Dollars Local is a merchant-led effort focused on reducing unnecessary payment fees and keeping more money circulating in Hawaiʻi’s local economy. We work with small businesses to document real costs, share anonymized data, and identify practical ways to lower fees. The goal is straightforward: more margin for local merchants, more stability for local jobs, and a stronger Hawaiʻi economy.
100+
Local Merchants Engaged
0%—0.5%
Average Merchant Fees Statewide
$360M—$700M
Estimated annual processing fees
How we create measurable impact
Lower fees through collective leverage
We aggregate anonymized payment data from participating Hawaiʻi merchants to quantify real transaction costs and identify structural fee inefficiencies. By organizing merchants at scale, we enable collective negotiation, policy engagement, and the evaluation of compliant digital payment alternatives.
See The Data →Join us in building a stronger local economy
Participation in the coalition helps Hawaiʻi merchants reduce payment costs, inform smart policy, and support the development of transparent, compliant digital payment infrastructure.
Join the Coalition →We focus on measurable economic outcomes.
We analyze real transaction data to understand where fees, intermediaries, and outdated payment rails impose unnecessary costs on Hawaiʻi merchants. Our work prioritizes transparency, consumer protection, and evidence-based decision-making.
We build coalitions to enable compliant innovation.
By organizing merchants, engaging policymakers, and evaluating regulated digital payment frameworks, we help create pathways for lower fees and modern infrastructure that operate within existing state and federal requirements.
Coalition Leadership & Advisors
A cross-sector group of merchants, operators, analysts, and policy contributors working to modernize Hawaiʻi’s payment infrastructure.
Tad Tobar
Founder & President, Keep Hawaiʻi Dollars Local
Tad leads the Keep Hawaiʻi Dollars Local coalition, bringing together merchants, policymakers, and payment infrastructure partners to reduce transaction costs, modernize local commerce, and keep more money circulating in Hawaiʻi’s economy.