Contact Information: Contact: Stephen Lange Ranzini President and Chairman Phone: 734-741-5858, Ext. 226 Email: Email Contact
University Bank Appoints John J.H. ("Joe") Schwarz, M.D. as Director & Announces New MedCash Manager(TM) Product
| Source: University Bancorp
ANN ARBOR, MI -- (MARKET WIRE) -- April 26, 2007 -- University Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of
University Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ : UNIB ), announced that it has appointed
former Congressman John J.H. ("Joe") Schwarz, M.D. to its board of
directors.
John J.H. ("Joe") Schwarz, M.D. is a graduate of the University of Michigan
and of Wayne State University School of Medicine. Schwarz completed his
specialty training at Harvard. He is a veteran of five years service in
Southeast Asia with the U.S. Navy and with the C.I.A. Dr. Schwarz has been
a practicing otolaryngologist in Battle Creek for more than thirty years.
He served in the Michigan Senate from 1986 to 2002, and in the U.S. House
of Representatives from 2004 to 2006. Schwarz is the Chairman of the Board
of the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan. He is widowed and
has one adult daughter. He recently completed service on a select panel
appointed by the Secretary of Defense to investigate healthcare services
provided at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Medical
Center at Bethesda.
University Bank Chairman & President Stephen Lange Ranzini, in announcing
the appointment, stated, "Former Congressman Joe Schwarz brings a wealth of
experience and contacts to our board deliberations. We look forward to his
guidance as University Bank helps the local people and enterprises who have
the courage to find new business lines and new products and services to
offer the citizens of Michigan. One industry where we are leading the
state-wide effort is in a new industry called 'health information
technology' and Joe has 30 years of knowledge and expertise in healthcare
to guide us as we try to assist Michigan to overcome its healthcare crisis
by leveraging the many benefits of HIT."
University Bank also announced today that it has introduced a new financing
program for the healthcare industry, the first commercial product related
to its ongoing pilot with Michigan HIMSS (www.mi-himss.org) and the U.S.
Government's General Services Administration's eAuthentication Program
Initiative. The product, MedCash Manager™ allows University Bank to
provide credit to healthcare service providers for procedures performed for
patients the day after the service is performed, rather than waiting the
typical 60-120 days for reimbursement. In exchange for the expedited
availability of funds, University Bank will charge a small fee to the
healthcare service provider. Future enhancements of the product will
enable ever more seamless exchange of secure & privacy enhanced healthcare
related data through the new Healthcare Information Exchanges now being
built in Michigan.
Ann Arbor-based University Bancorp owns 100% of University Bank which
services a total of over $4.10 billion in loans. University Bank is an
FDIC-insured, locally owned and managed community bank, and is the only
financial institution headquartered in Washtenaw County rated "Outstanding"
by the FDIC for Community Service and Community Reinvestment. University
Bank focuses on local businesses, minorities and the non-profit communities
primarily serving the cities of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti of Washtenaw
County. Other University Bank specialties include highly competitive
deposit products for business owners, residential mortgages, commercial
real estate lending and insurance, investments and money management through
its wholly owned subsidiary University Insurance & Investments, Inc.
University Bank also engages in Islamic Banking through 80%-owned
University Islamic Financial Corporation, the first and only Islamic
Banking subsidiary of a bank in the U.S. University Islamic Financial
Corporation offers mortgage alternative financing, the only FDIC-insured
Islamic deposits (offered through University Bank) and Islamic equity
mutual funds (offered through University Insurance & Investments, Inc.).
University Bank also specializes in mortgage subservicing and mortgage
origination primarily serving over 270 credit unions (representing 2.8% of
all credit unions nationwide) through its Houghton-based 80%-owned
subsidiary, Midwest Loan Services.
Any prediction of the future is inherently not assured. Investors should
read the risk factors listed on pages 21 through 22 in the Company's report
on Form 10K for the year ended December 31, 2006 and any prediction in this
release is intended to be covered by the Safe Harbor provisions of Section
21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.