Mutual savings banks

Like savings and loans associations, mutual savings banks were started in the United States approximately 150 years ago to meet the financial needs of the small sever. However, unlike savings and loans, which have spread nationwide, mutual; have remained essentially rooted along the eastern seaboard of the United States, where they began. These institutions play an active role in the residential mortgage market, as do savings and loans, but are much more diversified in their investments, purchasing corporate bonds and common stock, making consumer loans, and investing in commercial form their earliest origins mutual savings banks have designed their financial services to appeal to individuals and families. Deposit accounts can be opened for amount as small as one dollar, with transactions carried out by mail or, in many instances, through 24-hour automated tellers in convenient locations. Mutual savings banks in Massachusetts and New Hampshire were the first to develop the interest-bearing now account, perhaps the most important new consumer financial service of the past decade. Many savings banks advertise the availability of family financial counseling service, low-cost insurance, and travel planning as well as a wide variety of savings instruments.