Ann Arbor, Michigan, July 28, 2015, — University Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQB: UNIB) announced that Stephen Lange Ranzini, President & CEO of both University Bank and University Bancorp, has been appointed as one of 16 members of the new Secure Payments Steering Committee established by the Federal Reserve. The new Steering Committee members are tasked with advising the Fed on the security and architecture design for the new faster and more secure payment system now being created for the United States as described in the “Strategies for Improving the U.S. Payment System” whitepaper released by the Fed in January 2015. The goal of the work effort is for the United States to have a modern, internet based payment system that is real-time and more secure. The new payment system will be used by businesses, consumers, units of government, banks and credit unions throughout the United States.

Only five bank executives nationwide were elected to the Steering Committee for the Secure Payments Task Force. The steering committee has broad cross-industry representation. Members of the committee also include representatives from retailers such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy, government agencies such as the U.S. Treasury, key vendors to the banking industry like Fiserv and MasterCard, and entities representing consumers, such as Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports magazine.

Members of the Steering Committee were elected by separate industry segments, with the appointments confirmed by the Chair of the Steering Committee, Gordon Werkema, the newly appointed Federal Reserve Payments Strategy Director. Mr. Ranzini was one of two representatives elected nationwide from smaller banks and credit unions.

University Bancorp, Inc. President & CEO Stephen Lange Ranzini stated, “I am honored to be appointed to a key Fed committee, and excited to begin this work under the guidance of the Fed. I hope that our efforts to build a better national payment system for the U.S. are successful. I think we would be successful if we architect and build a new payment system where all users are strongly enrolled, where all data is encrypted end to end at all times and never in the clear, in motion and at rest, and all access to data is tightly controlled based on authentication, role, authority and a need to know.”

“A payment system that meets those criteria will produce many positive benefits to society, including the elimination of the identity theft criminal ecosystem, the creation of many new jobs, better access to financial services by the unbanked, and the elimination of the need for consumers to remember passwords when transacting on websites across the Internet.”

Mr. Ranzini brings a wealth of experience to the new Steering Committee. Mr. Ranzini has served as the CEO of University Bank and/or its bank holding company, University Bancorp, for the past 27 years. During that time he has acquired substantial experience in payment security on several levels:

  • Industry collaborative efforts to establish key security standards required for more secure electronic payments, including at the Financial Services Technology Consortium, the R&D arm of the nation’s largest banks and their key vendors, where he was a member of the Security Committee. This committee conceptualized the best methods for creating secure electronic payment networks and built the preferred business model to manage identity issues related to internet banking and secure internet based electronic payments;
  • Industry collaborative efforts to establish national and international technical standards including at the global financial services standards-setting body under ISO, ISO TC68, where he wrote the first draft of its five year strategic plan, and at the U.S. financial services technical standards-setting body under the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), ANSI/ASC X9, where he wrote the first draft of its five year strategic plan;
  • Design work as a consultant for three firms that have actually designed bank-centric more secure internet based payment systems, including a Big Three auto firm;
  • As an inventor of two pioneering internet security patents awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, subsequently cited in the filings of many other patents;
  • Hands-on daily work. University Bank is the second highest user of FedACH and FedWire in the Chicago Fed District, with $6 billion per year of electronic payments.    Having hands-on experience can inform security solutions that can make existing systems more secure.

 

Shareholders and investors are encouraged to refer to the financial information including the audited financial statements, strategic plan and prior press releases, available on our investor relations web page at: www.university-bank.com/bancorp/.

Ann Arbor-based University Bancorp owns 100% of University Bank which, together with its Michigan-based subsidiaries, holds and manages a total of over $16.7 billion in loans and assets and our 337 employees make us the 9th largest bank based in Michigan. University Bank is an FDIC-insured, locally owned and managed community bank, and meets the financial needs of its community through its creative and innovative services. Founded in 1890, University Bank® is proud to have been selected as the “Community Bankers of the Year” by American Banker magazine and as the recipient of the American Bankers Association’s Community Bank Award. University Bank is a Member FDIC. The members of University Bank’s corporate family, ranked by their size of revenues are:

  • University Lending Group, a retail residential mortgage originator based in Clinton Township;
  • Midwest Loan Services, a residential mortgage subservicer based in Houghton;
  • UIF, an Islamic banking firm based in Farmington Hills;
  • Community Banking, based in Ann Arbor, which provides traditional community banking services in the Ann Arbor area;
  • Ann Arbor Insurance Centre, an independent insurance agency based in Ann Arbor.

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