Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XI. Banking, Credit, and Insurance - 4. Savings-Banks and Similar Institutions. By [I. Flodström] Alfhild Lamm
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xi. banking, credit, and insurance.
bank stamps (sparmärken)1 during the period from 1888 to 1892 figured
out at an average 4 304 078, but during the quinquennial period from
1898 to 1902 had no risen to more than to 4 653 073. Since then,
however, there has been a fairly large rise; during the years from 1908 to
1912 6 535 730 sparmärken were sold.
Out of the pocket money-boxes (ficksparbössor) kept by the Post-Office
for sale of loan, at the end of 1912, 46 926 had been supplied to the
public, out of which 22 375 were lent and 24 551 sold.
The rate of interest given by the Post-Office Savings-Bank was 3’6 % up to
the end of 1896, was then reduced to 3"3 %, but since the 1st July 1899 has
again been raised to 3’6 %. The rate is thus lower than the average rate of
the savings-banks (4’36 % in 1912), and considerably lower than the interest
paid by the smaller savings-banks to their depositors — an inevitable consequence
of the stringent regulations to which the Post-Office Savings-Bank had to
submit. Prior to 1902 the Post-Office Savings-Bank was not permitted to
invest its monies in anything but Government bonds, General Mortgage Bank
bonds, and communal bonds, or in communal loans issued on the security of
promissory notes (skuldebrev). In 1902, however, the Post-Office Savings-Bank
acquired the right to lend, at most, a quarter of its capital against promissory
notes on the security of mortgages. As to expenses of management, they amounted
in 1912 to 0"66 % of the pass-book balances, and were thus relatively speaking,
far higher than those of the private savings-banks (0"44 % in 1912). It should,
however, be borne in mind that the average per pass-book in the Post-Office
Savings-Bank was only 8 3 "48 kronor, whereas in the case of the private
savings-banks, it was 543 kronor; if one estimates the costs in ratio to the sums
passing through the hands of the banks, they are I’M % for the Post-Office
Savings-Bank, but l’io % for the private savings-banks.
People’s Banks. The people’s banks had much the same aims as the
savings-banks. By the Banks Act of 1903, they were deprived of the
right to bear that name (after 1903 only financial institutions for which
regulations have been drawn, up by Government are entitled to the
designation "bank"). The former people’s banks have consequently been
rechristened with new names such as kreditbolag, credit company,
folk-kassa, people’s fund, sparkassa, savings-fund, and the like.
Savings-bank operations only form part of the business they transact: besides
this, they also discount bills. Unlike the savings-banks, these
institutions do not solely serve the public benefit: they are regulaT business
undertakings, though only on a minor scale, giving dividends, and looking
to the advantage of their shareholders. An Act of 1903 had provided
for the due supervision of these institutions.
In 1913 there were 26 of these institutions, all of them being in the
country. The number of depositors on "savings-bank account" was 20 744,
and their total balance at the close of the year 9 193 683 kronor. The ave-
1 In order to provide facilities for the collection of petty sums, savings-bank stamps
(,sparmärken) worth 10 ore each are kept for sale by the post office, by rural postmen,
and by dealers. These are affixed to a cardboard sheet, which, when the amount totals a
krona, can be handed in as a deposit at the nearest post office.
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