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.
Halifax is a British banking brand operating as a trading division of Bank of Scotland, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group.
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.
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.
Bankwest is an Australian bank based in Perth, Western Australia. It was founded as the Agricultural Bank of Western Australia in 1895 by the Government of Western Australia being renamed the Rural and Industries Bank in 1944, and Bankwest in 1994 before being privatised. After a period of being a listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange, it was taken over by the Bank of Scotland, and since 2008 has been a subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank.
The Bank of Queensland (BOQ), formerly known as the Brisbane Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Society (BPBBIS) between 1874–1970, is an Australian retail bank with headquarters in Brisbane, Queensland. The bank is one of the oldest financial institutions in Queensland, having begun as a building society. It now has 111 owner-managed branches throughout Australia, including thirty-six corporate branches and third-party intermediaries. They also have over 2,300 ATMs. The bank also owns Virgin Money Australia and ME Bank.
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, commonly known as ANZ Bank, is a multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It’s Australia's second-largest bank by assets and fourth-largest bank by market capitalisation.
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.
Banking in Australia is dominated by four major banks: Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group and National Australia Bank. There are several smaller banks with a presence throughout the country which includes Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Suncorp Bank, and a large number of other financial institutions, such as credit unions, building societies and mutual banks, which provide limited banking-type services and are described as authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs). Many large foreign banks have a presence, but few have a retail banking presence. The central bank is the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). The Australian government’s Financial Claims Scheme guarantees deposits up to $250,000 per account-holder per ADI in the event of the ADI failing.
Yorkshire Building Society is the third largest building society in the UK, with its headquarters in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is a member of the Building Societies Association. At December 2023, the Society had total assets of more than £60 billion.
Suncorp Group Limited is an Australian finance, insurance, and banking corporation based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is one of Australia's mid-size banks and its largest general insurance group, formed on 1 December 1996 by the merger of Suncorp, Metway Bank and the Queensland Industry Development Corporation (QIDC).
Heritage and People’s Choice Limited, trading as People's Choice, is an Australian credit union based in Adelaide, South Australia. It is one of Australia's largest credit unions, with branches located in South Australia, Northern Territory and Victoria, offering loans, credit cards, transaction and savings accounts, mortgages and insurance.
Virgin Money UK plc is a British banking and financial services company. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Australian Securities Exchange; it is also a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Heritage and People’s Choice Limited, trading as Heritage Bank, is one of Australia's largest mutual banks. Its head office is in Toowoomba, Queensland.
Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney.
UBank is an Australian direct bank, that operates as a division of National Australia Bank (NAB). It was established in 2008, and provides savings products and home loans online and over the phone.
IMB Bank is an Australian mutual bank established in 1880. In 2020, IMB Bank was voted by Forbes as one of the World's Best Banks, and, in 2022, was found by financial services research company Canstar to have Australia's Most Satisfied Customers for both the Bank and Mutual Bank categories.
Bank Australia is an Australian customer-owned bank based in Collingwood, Victoria. The organisation can trace its origins back to 1957, when the CSIRO Co-operative Credit Society was formed. Over succeeding years, mergers among 72 other credit unions and co-operative banks eventually led to the creation of the Members & Education Credit Union (mecu) in 2003, which became Bankmecu in 2011, and Bank Australia in 2015.
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.
Suncorp Bank is a part of ANZ Group, with head offices in Brisbane, Australia. From its beginnings in 1902 as the Queensland Agricultural Bank, Suncorp Bank has grown into the sixth largest bank in Australia.
