Standing tall and proud in its entire grand splendor is American United Bank, which has successfully become known as the "White House" of Gwinnett County, Lawrenceville, Ga., serving all of Gwinnett and surrounding areas. Since its conception and opening in 2004, the magnificent and majestic building, housed on 12,000 sq. ft., has been offering its' clients the very best in experiencing freedom of banking which serves as the bank's motto and ultimate belief according to P. I. Joy, founder and Chairman.

As a minority owned bank staffed and run by a diverse group of people, AUB provides customers with the best banking experiences possible in terms of services offered and personal attention rendered. A diversity of products also exists as is depicted by the names of many of their accounts, i.e., Liberty checking, Freedom non-profit checking, Silver Eagle, etc. Additionally, a broad range of credit facilities exists for the consumer or corporate clients.

The bank currently has on its board six directors from diverse communities and professions. Other than Joy, the board consists of T. Glenn Thompson who heads the bank as president and CEO, Lt. General (Ret.) David Poythress, CEO of American United Bancorp, Dr. Naresh Parikh, corporate secretary, Jimmy Jett and Dr. Palamalai Mahizhnan.

“Unlike big banks, we provide the personal touch in banking,” says Joy. The bank believes their customers are deserving of quality products and services. "Quality and services delivered with dignity and respect, being paramount, and we know them by name," states Thompson.

The bank also provides customers with hi-tech benefits like free internet banking and bill pay where small businesses can conduct their banking in the comfort of their home or office.

Launched towards the end of 2004, AUB was the brainchild of Joy and his friend Benson Jacob, who both felt the need for a minority owned bank to service the growing Indian community. Chicago was the location at the time due to the considerable Asian Indian population for that area and the need to bank the individual and business sector.

While many investors were showing a great deal of interest in this venture, an unfortunate tragedy struck the Jacob family. While en route to Chicago to attend an organizational meeting for the new bank, the Jacob family was in an automobile accident. Mr. Jacob lost his life in this unfortunate event, but his wife and children survived. Deeply saddened and shaken, Joy continued to raise funds for a while, but eventually decided not to pursue his plans for starting a bank in Chicago.

His dreams to start a multi-ethnic minority owned bank, however, never faded. Mr. Joy then turned his efforts toward Gwinnett County, Georgia. He reorganized his efforts with new organizers, and was able to raise over $10.1 million as a result of just three meetings. T. Glenn Thompson was then selected to be the President and CEO for the bank. Thompson has over 35 years of experience in banking, and has been successful in growing the bank assets to over $104 million since December 2004. "His passion and dedication, together with an incredible staff, will take the bank to new heights", said Joy. AUB family stands together to make the difference. "Come and feel the difference", stated Joy.