A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization, which offers banking and related financial services, especially savings and mortgage lending. They exist in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, and formerly in Ireland and several Commonwealth countries, including South Africa as mutual banks. They are similar to credit unions, but rather than promoting thrift and offering unsecured and business loans, the purpose of a building society is to provide home mortgages to members. Borrowers and depositors are society members, setting policy and appointing directors on a one-member, one-vote basis. Building societies often provide other retail banking services, such as current accounts, credit cards and personal loans. The term "building society" first arose in the 19th century in Great Britain from cooperative savings groups.
Nationwide Building Society is the largest retail bank in the United Kingdom, and the world's largest building society, serving over 16 million members. It operates as a British mutual financial institution, meaning it is owned by and run for the benefit of its members. Nationwide is also the seventh largest cooperative financial institution globally. The Society's headquarters are located in Swindon, England.
U.S. Bancorp is an American bank holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and incorporated in Delaware. It is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, and is the fifth largest banking institution in the United States. The company provides banking, investment, mortgage, trust, and payment services products to individuals, businesses, governmental entities, and other financial institutions. As of 2019, it had 3,106 branches and 4,842 automated teller machines, primarily in the Western and Midwestern United States. In 2023 it ranked 149th on the Fortune 500, and it is considered a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board. The company also owns Elavon, a processor of credit card transactions for merchants, and Elan Financial Services, a credit card issuer that issues credit card products on behalf of small credit unions and banks across the U.S.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, is an Australian financial institution, operating primarily in retail banking. The company was formed by the merger of Bendigo Bank and Adelaide Bank in November 2007.
St.George Bank is an Australian bank with its headquarters in Sydney. Since a 2008 merger, the bank has been part of Westpac, having previously been an independent legal entity. In 2010, St.George was deregistered as a company and ceased to be a standalone authorised deposit-taking institution.
AMP Limited is an Australian financial services company that operates in Australia and New Zealand. It offers superannuation and investment products, financial advice and banking services through AMP Banking, including home loans and savings accounts. AMP is headquartered in Sydney, Australia. The company previously operated a global investment management business through its subsidiary AMP Capital.
EBS d.a.c. is a small financial institution in Ireland registered as a designated activity company.
KeyBank is an American regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and the 25th largest bank in the United States. Organized under the publicly traded KeyCorp, KeyBank was formed from the 1994 merger of the Cleveland-based Society Corporation, which operated Society National Bank, and the Albany-headquartered KeyCorp. The company today operates over 1,000 branches and 40,000 ATMs, mostly concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast United States, though also operates in the Pacific Northwest as well as in Alaska, Colorado, Texas and Utah.
The Britannia Building Society was founded as the Leek & Moorlands Building Society in Leek in 1856. It expanded steadily as a regional society until the late 1950s when it began a major expansion drive, partly through branch openings but also some 55 acquisitions. The most substantial of these were the NALGO Building Society in 1960; the Westbourne Park in 1965 ; and the Eastern Counties Building Society in 1974. The Society’s name was changed to the Britannia Building Society the following year.
The Portman Building Society was a mutual building society in the United Kingdom, providing mortgages and savings accounts to consumers and offering loans to commercial enterprises. Its head office was in Bournemouth and its administration centre in Wolverhampton. Portman merged with the Nationwide Building Society in August 2007, at which time it was the third largest building society in the UK and the largest regional building society in the south of England, with 154 branches and assets exceeding £15 billion.
MyState Limited is an Australian financial group, headquartered in Hobart, Tasmania. It formed in 2009 following the merger of the Tasmanian Perpetual Trustees and MyState Financial. In 2011 it further purchased the Queensland-based Rock Building Society for $68.3 million AUD. In October 2014, its largest section, MyState Financial received authorisation from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to rename itself to MyState Bank.
Chelsea Building Society is a trading name of Yorkshire Building Society based in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Chelsea merged with the Yorkshire in 2010, at which point Chelsea was the fourth largest building society in the United Kingdom, with assets in excess of £13 billion and 35 branches, mainly in the southern areas of England, particularly in London.
Norwich & Peterborough Building Society (N&P) is a trading name of Yorkshire Building Society based in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Formed by the merger of the Norwich and Peterborough building societies in 1986, at the time of merger with YBS, it was the ninth largest building society in the United Kingdom, with assets in excess of £4.9 billion.
WSFS Financial Corporation is a financial services company. Its primary subsidiary, WSFS Bank, a federal savings bank, is the largest and longest-standing locally managed bank and trust company headquartered in Delaware and the Greater Delaware Valley. WSFS operates from 114 offices, 88 of which are banking offices, located in Pennsylvania (57), Delaware (39), New Jersey (14), Florida (2), Virginia (1) and Nevada (1) and provides comprehensive financial services including commercial banking, retail banking, cash management and trust and wealth management.
Co-operative Banking Group Limited was a UK-based banking and insurance company and a wholly owned subsidiary of The Co-operative Group. Established in 2002, its head office was located at the CIS Tower, Miller Street, Manchester.
Macquarie Group Limited, more commonly known as Macquarie Bank, is an Australian multinational investment banking and financial services group headquartered in Sydney and listed on the ASX.
Heartland Bank is a New Zealand owned bank that was created in 2011 through the merging of four financial organisations. Heartland was granted its bank registration by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in 2012. It specialises in motor vehicle loans, reverse mortgages, small business finance, livestock finance, savings, investments and deposits.
Greater Bank is an Australian customer-owned bank and now a brand of Newcastle Greater Mutual Group, an organisation formed through the merger between Greater Bank and Newcastle Permanent Building Society.
Richard Lee Banks is a British banker who is Chief Executive of UK Asset Resolution, the state-owned "bad bank" that was formed from Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, when those banks failed in 2008. In 2014, an opinion piece in the Evening Standard asked if he was "Britain's best banker", as he had successfully reduced the assets of UK Asset Resolution by 40 percent and repaid £4bn to the British government.
P&N Bank is a division of Police & Nurses Limited and is an Australian customer-owned bank based in Western Australia. Operating under a mutual model, P&N Bank provides retail banking services such as home loans, savings accounts, and insurance services. The bank has a network of branches throughout greater Perth and Bunbury and has a Perth based Contact centre which is open 6 days a week.
