Reading Discipline
The staff members are trained to read with their fingers. Each staff member
is asked to touch every letter, in order to read carefully any document they
are asked to review. Management watches the new candidate to make sure
that finger reading is practiced as a unique and universal characteristic of
the bank staff. If the new employee does not use this technique, she/he is
considered to be not qualified to continue as a member of our family.
RF Banking Values and Social Responsibility
RF banking values are detailed, and our motto,We Do Not Rent Money—
We Invest in Our Customers, is discussed and made clear. Contrasts be-
tween conventional riba-based banking and RF banking outlook and
approach are made clear and discussed.
Social responsibility, as manifested by dedicated and humble service to
the community, is drilled in all our presentations and training. In addition,
we review the very popular movieIt’s a Wonderful Life. The movie depicts
a savings and loan banker with his wife who have spent their savings and
life developing the community by helping community members move from
rundown apartments to beautiful homes financed by the savings and loan
bank, which used its deposits to build homes, finance autos for taxi drivers,
and meet other community needs. In fact, we tell the staff that the first RF
banker in America was George Bailey (acted by Jimmy Stewart, the star of
the movie).
Introduction to Banking
The training program also includes an introduction to banking, the creation
of money, the Federal Reserve System, and interest rates. A brief review of
economics and monetary theory are also discussed. The contents of this
book are essentially summarized to the staff in the Open University. In addi-
tion, important banking concepts like the multiplier effect, the creation of
credit, bank capital adequacy, and liquidity requirements are discussed. Fi-
nally, a brief review of important bank policies is introduced and discussed
with the staff.
Character Building: Honesty and Integrity^2
This part of the program focuses on character and discipline of RF bank
employees as the trusted custodians and safekeepers of our customers’
money and private information. We play out different scenarios in
which that trust is compromised before the class, in order to make them
Operating an RF Bank in the United States 333