savings bank

Savings bank

An institution that primarily accepts consumer savings deposits and to make home mortgage loans.

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savings bank

See mutual savings bank.

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Savings Bank

A bank that specializes in taking deposits for checking and savings accounts, as well as making home mortgages. Savings banks tend to be smaller than other banks, and are more focused on the local communities in which they operate. It is sometimes (but not always) easier to obtain a loan from a savings bank because it may have better knowledge of the local market. They derive most of their funds from customer savings accounts, but they also generally have easy access to loans from the Federal Home Mortgage Banks. They are also known as savings & loan associations or thrifts. They are regulated by the Office of Thrift Supervision.

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savings bank

Originally organized under individual state supervision as a vehicle for cash workers to deposit their earnings. The industry remained small until the mid-1980s, when savings banks became a federally chartered alternative to the savings and loan associations,whose insurance fund was bankrupt.Savings banks could be protected under the Bank Insurance Fund of the FDIC.