This story originally ran 3/11/09
Banking in the Western Hemisphere is different than banking in the Middle East, except at the University Islamic Financial in Ann Arbor.
The subsidiary of University Bank
doesn't operate the same way as say Comerica or the Bank of Ann Arbor.
The 4-year-old institution observes Muslim rules, traditions and
customs to service the growing Islamic population in not only southeast
Michigan but North America.
For instance, making money off of
interest isn't allowed in the Islamic world. To accompany this
University Islamic Financial is FDIC insured but doesn't guarantee its
customers a profit for keeping their money there. Instead they are
stakeholders in the bank so their money is safe as long as the bank's
bottom line remains black. University Islamic Financial's mortgages are
more like lease-to-own agreements, so the bank isn't making money off
of interest.
University Islamic Financial employs about 15
people and serves mostly followers of the Muslim faith. University Bank
noticed this segment of the population wasn't being adequately served,
even though it mainly consists of younger families with
higher-than-average incomes.
"It's obviously a very large and
growing market," says John Sickler, corporate director for University
Islamic Financial. "We're finding that people are really attracted to
this."
That has propelled the bank to grow its revenues by 30
percent in each of the last two years. The firm also does most of its
business out of state even though Dearborn is the center of Middle
Eastern population outside of the Middle East.
"Islam stretches across so many different cultures," Sickler says.
That
has also allowed the bank to recruit quite a diverse staff. Its
employees include Asian-, Caucasian- and African-Americans. It also has
both Muslim and Christian employees.
Source: John Sickler, corporate director for University Islamic Financial
Writer: Jon Zemke
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