Stearns Bank reaches out with targeted products and services

Stearns Bank’s marketing team has been busy in recent years.In March 2024, the St. Cloud, Minn.-based bank launched its Islamic banking division, Stearns Salaam Banking. The division offers Shariah-compliant checking and savings accounts along with financing options for consumers, businesses and nonprofits. Islamic banking is interest-free, and does not charge interest on loans..In September, Stearns Bank opened a loan and deposit production office in the HmongTown Marketplace in St. Paul, Minn. The bank offers culturally-tailored financial services for the Hmong community, business owners and entrepreneurs.In 2023, Stearns launched a nationwide nonprofit banking solutions platform featuring financing options, customized credit cards and high-yield, interest-bearing deposit accounts. Stearns Bank donates $1,000 to nonprofits that have had at least one nonprofit banking solutions account for a full year. The program was immediately successful as more than 160 nonprofits used it in just one year.“Nonprofits profit all, and if you spur nonprofits, you help to spur economic growth, because nonprofits help to service people who are in need or who don’t have access and/or proximity to resources and tools,” said Stearns Bank Chief Brand Officer Marlice Johnson. “It just made sense for what we believe and who we are.”.Stearns Bank is continuing its work this year by hosting community events, bringing together local leaders, influencers and the public to illustrate how Stearns Bank is trying to create a more inclusive financial services industry. The bank plans to unveil a new corporate website, consumer billboards and other marketing visuals along with trade show event-focused materials, into next year.Although the initiatives are all different, Johnson said they share a connection to the bank’s core focus: Serving their customers and communities. Stearns Bank recently rebranded to a “Business Unusual” approach. The bank sees the branding as shifting away from the traditional view of banks to better showcase its mission of supporting small businesses, assisting more communities and helping more customers achieve their goals.“It’s about helping individuals achieve their greatest ambition and providing access to resources and access to financial solutions that allow individuals to achieve their greatest ambition,” Johnson said. “And when you think about how we do that, you’ve gotta think about community.”Stearns Bank’s marketing formula is based on three parts: Going into the communities it serves, understanding the needs of those communities and having the staff to meet those needs. “We have been really strategic and nuanced about how we market, but the premise and the formula is to listen to the community,” Johnson said. “The community will dictate how and where we show up, and then we follow that lead.”One example of that community-focused approach is the Salaam Banking platform. A majority of the seven full-time employees in the division either practice Islam and/or understand the nuances of the faith. Salaam Banking, which is led by President Irshad Rasheed, adheres to Shariah Law by being interest-free and not charging interest on loans. How does a bank make money when it doesn’t charge interest on loans? The bank issued this explanatory statement:“While Stearns Salaam Banking financing is interest-free, the cost of capital is captured as in conventional loans through either profit margins or lease payments. The main difference is the structure of the transaction and ownership — we use lease or cost-plus structures that enable customers to make rental or profit payments instead of interest payments. … We currently offer products that allow for financing needs of real-estate transactions and equipment financing. In the near future we’ll have products for business acquisition, working capital and other financing needs.”Salaam Banking doesn’t allow investments in alcohol, pork or gambling, and is clearly separated from Stearns Bank’s cannabis banking solution. Stearns Salaam Banking financial products have been approved by its independent Shariah Supervisory Board of Islamic finance scholars.Stearns Bank partners with a small advertising agency connected to the Islamic community and is co-hosting a six-part series with PBS about the Islamic faith. One screening was hosted in April in Arizona, while seven other screenings are in the pipeline.“It’s just kind of taken on and morphed into a completely separate entity of its own and how it functions,” Johnson said. “It is Stearns Bank, but in terms of the product offering and solutions, they have to be customizable for that audience.”Another example is the HmongTown Marketplace branch. Considered a cultural center for Minnesota’s Hmong community, the Marketplace is the first Hmong-owned and operated indoor-outdoor market in the country.Stearns Bank saw an opportunity to reach the 95,000 Minnesota residents who share a Hmong ancestry, said Heather Plumski, recently named the bank’s president. The state’s Hmong community has an estimated $165 million in buying power. To reach those residents, the bank partnered with 3HMONGTV, a Twin Cities-based Hmong television station that has served the state’s Hmong community for two decades. Stearns also donated to the local Hmong New Year celebration.Stearns Bank worked with Hmong community leaders to gain a deeper understanding of the financial solutions that could help the broader community meet their financial goals and needs. Stearns learned the Hmong community, to reach its economic potential, needed to more easily access banking and capital services while attaining financial literacy skills, job training and educational support.The approach paid off. “Stearns Bank has truly become part of the Hmong community and most importantly, they’ve taken the time to fully understand the financial hurdles and pain points our community experiences on a daily basis,” said HmongTown Marketplace Founder Toua Xiong. “We’re honored that Stearns Bank is opening this new office in the HmongTown Marketplace to not only help Hmong businesses thrive, but help our local families build stronger financial practices and close generational wealth gaps for years to come.”Stearns Bank recently rebranded to a “Business Unusual” approach. The bank sees the branding as better showcasing its commitment to support small businesses, assist more communities and help more customers achieve their goals. The following three images capture the bank’s approach.