Mallam Hassan Usman, Managing Director, Jaiz Bank Plc, has explained that the workings and offerings of the bank are available to all customers regardless of their religious beliefs and ethnicity.
Usman while addressing journalists at a media session in Lagos said though the bank operates based on Islamic tenets which are hinged on ethical and non-interest banking; the bank’s products are open to all Nigerians without religious bias.
The Jaiz bank boss further explained that the bank offers products like other commercial banks, but operates on the Islamic business principle of partnership, risk and profit sharing, unlike the interest based operation model of other commercial banks.
Explaining the operations of the bank, he said: “We are the face of a new concept in banking. One important point we will continue to emphasize is that Jaiz Bank products are not religious products.
They are open and available to all, irrespective of their faith or religion. We do everything other banks do and we are regulated by the same regulator; The Central Bank of Nigeria. The only thing that separates us from conventional banks is that there are ethical principles which we believe that bank and customers must meet before transacting business.
“For instance, Jaiz bank will in no way open an account or transact business with a beer-brewing company or a manufacturer that is into pig rearing or gambling business.”
On the partnership model of Jaiz Bank, Usman explained that “it is a mode of financing that tries to address human needs directly by providing goods and services on a payment basis different from conventional banking that we know. Literarily, that is what non-interest or Islamic banking is doing anywhere in the world.
“It is about providing financing to people who cannot afford to buy directly with their own resources at a time. So, rather than give money, we provide the services and goods people are looking for to meet their consumption needs or businesses.
"We have seen from our operations so far that all manner of persons do come to us and we do business with them. This, I believe, is what we have been doing.”
