A Special Kind of Financing
A Special Kind of Financing
Central Bank is a small Midwestern savings and loan institution that manages
$3 billion in assets. It competes with 16 other financial institutions for
customers; most of those other institutions have substantially larger
holdings. To better serve its customers and attract a larger customer base,
Central Bank conducted a financial-need survey of the people who lived
in the area.
These ideas about finance were different from the way Central Bank
thought about them. Central Bank was not accustomed to the way
Muslims viewed money as a medium of exchange. Having been
enlightened through these discussions, the management at Central Bank
felt challenged to develop a financing program that was more in line with
the attitudes and values of Islamic finance principles.
Questions
1. Why do you think banks in the United States have been slow to offer
financing expressly for Muslims?
2. Do you think it is fair to offer one minority group a special banking
opportunity?
3. How does ethnocentrism come into play in this case?
4. How does in-group collectivism relate to Central Bank’s finance plans?
5. How do you think the other banks in the community will react to
Central Bank?