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Sparebank is a Norwegian savings bank without external owners. The Norwegian sparebanks are a separate type of juridical entity that differ from commercial banks. There are a total of 123 savings banks in Norway.
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Sparebank is a Norwegian savings bank without external owners. The Norwegian sparebanks are a separate type of juridical entity that differ from commercial banks. There are a total of 123 savings banks in Norway.
The first savings bank was created in 1822, and in the following 75 years savings banks were set up in most municipalities of Norway. The banks had both a savings upbringing function for the commoners (so they did not have to burden society when they got sick and old) and served an important part in local communities development and self-financing.
Historically the savings banks concentrated on private customers, combined with small businesses and the primary sector. Loans were financed through deposits. Today the differences between savings banks and commercial banks are smaller, partially because savings banks now can issue stock-like grunnfondsbevis where the owners are both given dividend and representation in the governing bodies of the banks. The savings banks can now also convert themselves to public limited companies, but so far only one bank, Gjensidige NOR, has done so. Part of this later merged to form DnB NOR while the rest of it returned to the savings bank form, becoming Gjensidige.
Traditionally the savings banks have had a strong local foundation, and a goal for the municipalities was often to have their own savings bank. After World War II there were about 600 savings banks in Norway. Partially because of municipal mergers, but primarily because banking after a while demanded broader and deeper competence and because the savings banks need to be bigger to capture larger customers, there was from the 1960s and about 25 years onwards a number of mergers among savings banks. Today there are 123 savings banks, of which some are large, regional savings banks. Parallel there has been a cooperation in Information Technology and product development, and a lot of the savings banks have joined one of two alliances: Sparebank 1 and Terra-Gruppen. Since most of the small commercial banks have been merged or bought by the large Nordic finance groups (DNB, Nordea, Danske Bank, etc., the savings banks remain as the last bit of decentralised banking in Norway. All savings banks are organised in the Norwegian Savings Banks Association.
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.
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Equitable PCI Bank, Inc. was one of the largest banks in the Philippines, being the third-largest bank in terms of assets. It was the largest bank before it was overtaken by Metrobank in 1995. It is the result of the merger of Equitable Banking Corporation and Philippine Commercial International Bank or PCIBank. It was known for a wide range of services from savings to insurance and, through its wholly owned subsidiary Equitable Card Network, was the largest Philippine credit card issuer. The bank merged with Banco de Oro Universal Bank in early 2007, and is now branded as BDO as its new identity as part of the new Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc.
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.
Sparebankstiftelsen DNB is a Norwegian foundation. The foundation gives financial contributions to a wide range of charitable causes, and is the second largest shareholder of the financial services company DNB. The foundation's capital is a result of accumulated profits from the former savings banks which are now part of DNB.
Union Bank of Norway branded as Sparebanken NOR was Norway's largest savings bank between 1990 and 1999. The bank was created as a merger between Sparebanken ABC and four other regional savings banks. The new bank had its headquarters in Oslo and was in existence until 1999 when it merged with Gjensidige to form Gjensidige NOR. Today the bank is part of DnB NOR.
Sparebanken ABC, sometimes branded as ABC Bank, was a Norwegian savings bank based in Oslo, in existence between 1985 and 1990. The bank was a merger between Sparebanken Oslo/Akershus as Christiania Sparebank) and Fellesbanken. The bank lasted until 1990 when it merged with four other savings banks in Eastern Norway to create Sparebanken NOR. The bank is now part of DnB NOR after Sparebanken NOR merged with Gjensidige to create Gjensidige NOR in 1999 and Gjensidige NOR merged with Den norske Bank in 2003 to create DnB NOR.
Gjensidige Forsikring ASA is a Norwegian insurance company. The company traces its roots back to 1816 when a fire mutual was founded as Land Gjensidige Brandkasse in what is today Innlandet county. Gjensidige demutualised and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange in December 2010. The firm, headquartered in Oslo, has a market share of some 26% (2021) in the Norwegian insurance market. The company has 36 branch offices in Norway, not including affiliated fire mutuals, and 1 million customers. Gjensidige has subsidiaries in Denmark, Sweden and The Baltics.
Eika Gruppen, formerly Terra-Gruppen, branded as Terra is a strategic alliance among 77 local Norwegian savings banks that co-ordinates work within the areas defined as falling within the alliance. The group supplies products and services to banks and other actors within the financial sector. The services of Eika include product development, procurement of services and products relating to information technology and payment processing, project management, training and expertise development. The financial companies provides a wide range of financial products, including securities, insurance and real estate agencies, financing and debit cards and credit cards. The alliance has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway, and the ownerbanks has a total assets of NOK 250 billion.
Cultura Sparebank, branded as Cultura Bank, is a Norwegian savings bank in the ethical banking movement that uses its assets on ethical investments. The bank has offices in Oslo and has total assets of NOK 657 million (2014).
SpareBank 1 SMN is a Norwegian savings bank based in Trøndelag.
SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge is a Norwegian savings bank. The bank has 90 branch offices in Nordland, Tromsø, Finnmark and Svalbard and a head office in Tromsø. It has 250,000 private and 40,000 institutional customers with total assets of NOK 48 billion. It is a founding member of the bank alliance SpareBank 1, with a 19.5% ownership.
SpareBank 1 Østlandet is the fourth largest Norwegian savings bank and is based in eastern Norway. The bank´s major market is in the counties of Innlandet, Oslo and Viken. The company head office is situated in Hamar, and the bank has 37 branches in its market area. SpareBank 1 Østlandet is part of the SpareBank 1 alliance.
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