A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially savings and mortgage lending. Building societies exist in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, and used to exist in Ireland and several Commonwealth countries. They are similar to credit unions in organisation, though few enforce a common bond. However, 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.
The ING Group is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, wholesale banking, private banking, asset management, and insurance services. With total assets of US$1.1 trillion, it is one of the biggest banks in the world, and consistently ranks among the top 30 largest banks globally. It is among the top ten largest European companies by revenue.
Rabobank is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands. The group comprises 89 local Dutch Rabobanks (2019), a central organisation, and many specialised international offices and subsidiaries. Food and agribusiness constitute the primary international focus of the Rabobank Group. Rabobank is the second-largest bank in the Netherlands in terms of total assets.
Kiwibank Limited is a New Zealand state-owned bank and financial services provider. As of 2023, they are the fifth-largest bank in New Zealand by assets, and the largest New Zealand-owned bank, with a market share of approximately 9%.
The Trustee Savings Bank (TSB) was a British financial institution. Trustee savings banks originated to accept savings deposits from those with moderate means. Their shares were not traded on the stock market but, unlike mutually held building societies, depositors had no voting rights; nor did they have the power to direct the financial and managerial goals of the organisation. Directors were appointed as trustees on a voluntary basis. The first trustee savings bank was established by Rev. Henry Duncan of Ruthwell in Dumfriesshire for his poorest parishioners in 1810, with its sole purpose being to serve the local people in the community. Between 1970 and 1985, the various trustee savings banks in the United Kingdom were amalgamated into a single institution named TSB Group plc, which was floated on the London Stock Exchange. In 1995, the TSB merged with Lloyds Bank to form Lloyds TSB, at that point the largest bank in the UK by market share and the second-largest by market capitalisation.
Permanent TSB Group Holdings plc, formerly Irish Life and Permanent plc is a provider of personal financial services in Ireland. Irish Life Assurance plc and the Irish Permanent Building Society merged to form the Irish Life and Permanent Group in 1999 and the merged entity acquired the Trustee Savings Bank in 2001. The group has no connection to the UK's TSB Bank.
ACC Loan Management Limited, formerly ACCBank plc, was originally a commercial bank in Ireland that focused on agriculture and SME lending, and later became a company that focussed on managing the lending facilities of its existing clients. The bank had its origins in the Agricultural Credit Corporation set up in 1927 in the Irish Free State to finance agriculture; the bank was successful and led to the creation of the Industrial Credit Company, which was modelled on it and provided finance to industry. In the early 1990s, the company name was changed from "Agricultural Credit Corporation plc" to "ACCBank plc" in order to signify that the company was then targeting more than simply agricultural customers. In early 2002, the bank was sold by the Irish Government to Rabobank, it was one of the three entities of the Rabobank (Ireland).
Bank of Scotland (Ireland) Limited was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank of Scotland, which later became part of Lloyds Banking Group. It offered commercial and corporate banking services under the Bank of Scotland brand and retail banking services under the Halifax brand. From 10 February 2010 the bank no longer accepted new business and it ceased to operate as a licensed bank on 31 December 2010. The assets of the bank were merged into Bank of Scotland plc.
Tesco Bank is a British retail bank which was formed in July 1997, and which has been wholly owned by Tesco plc since 2008. The bank was formed as part of a 50:50 joint venture between The Royal Bank of Scotland and Tesco, the largest supermarket in the United Kingdom.
cahoot is an internet-only division of Santander UK plc, the British subsidiary of the Santander Group. Cahoot was launched in June 2000, as the internet based banking brand of Abbey National plc. Cahoot is based in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
HSBC Bank Australia Limited is the Australian subsidiary of HSBC. The bank offers a wide range of financial services in Australia through a network of 36 branches and offices. These services include retail and commercial banking, financial planning, trade finance, treasury and financial markets, payments and cash management and securities custody.
Kent Reliance is a banking services provider and trading name of OneSavings Bank plc, based in Kent, England. It was founded in 1898 as the Chatham & District Reliance Building Society, changing its name to the Kent Reliance Building Society in 1986 following the merger with the Herne Bay Building Society.
Vanquis Banking Group, formerly Provident Financial plc, is specialist bank for UK adults who are not served by mainstream lenders. Based in Bradford, England, it specialises in credit cards, online loans and consumer vehicle finance. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
FirstRand Limited, also referred to as FirstRand Group is the holding company of FirstRand Bank, and is a financial services provider in South Africa. It is one of the financial services providers licensed by the Reserve Bank of South Africa, the national banking regulator.
Charter Court Financial Services Group plc is a financial services company operating in the United Kingdom, which provides retail savings products, specialist mortgage products, mortgage administration services and credit analysis. Charter Court operates via three separate specialist brands: Charter Savings Bank for retail savings, Precise Mortgages for specialist mortgages and Exact Mortgage Experts for credit analysis and servicing of existing mortgage portfolios.
BNP Paribas Bank Polska is a Polish bank, originally founded in 1975 as Bank Gospodarki Żywnościowej (BGŻ). It has been owned by BNP Paribas since 2015, and adopted its brand name in 2019.
Secure Trust Bank is a British retail and commercial banking group listed on the London Stock Exchange, where it is a constituent of the Main Market.
Rabobank New Zealand Limited is a bank in New Zealand, a subsidiary of Rabobank Nederland. Rabobank focuses on rural banking, business banking and saving services. The New Zealand subsidiary was registered in 1994, and as of June 2022, has a market share of approximately 3%.
Union Bank of Colombo PLC, commonly referred to as UBC, is a commercial bank in Sri Lanka. It is licensed by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the central bank and national banking regulator.
