Post Office Savings Bank
Part of the General Post Office
The Savings Bank was established by the Post Office Savings Bank Act 1861. This act empowered the Postmaster General to receive money on deposit, to make repayments, and to pay interest at the rate of two and a half per cent per annum on the balance outstanding to the credit of depositors. The Bank opened for business on 16 September 1861 using the already existing system of 301 Post Office Money Order offices and with 1,700 Post Offices acting as its local agents for deposit and withdrawal transactions. This quickly grew to 2,300 Post Offices. As the first institution of its kind in the world its success was immediate. The minimum deposit needed to open an account was fixed at one shilling.
In 1861 the Savings Bank had twenty four thousand account holders and a staff of 200.
By 1871 there were 1,300,000 accounts and the total sum on deposit was 15 million.
1880 Services were extended to include government stocks and bonds
1888 Insurance and annuities added
1916 War savings certificates introduced (renamed National Savings Certificates in 1920)
1926 The original system of manual book keeping was finally replaced.
1956 premium savings bonds were introduced
1966 investment accounts
In the mid 1960s as part of a general government policy to disperse staff from London, the Savings Certificate Division relocated to Durham, firstly into temporary accommodation then into a new purpose built office block. The move was completed by 1969. Other parts of the Savings Bank dealing with Ordinary and Investment accounts moved out of London to Glasgow.
1967 The Department was renamed 'Department for National Savings'.
1969 A Save-as-You-Earn contractual scheme was introduced. When The Post Office ceased to be part of the Civil Service in 1969 and became a Public Corporation, the Savings Bank remained with the Civil Service and started a new life as a Public Corporation. The Post Office continued handling savings transactions over the counter on an agency basis.
See Also
Sources of Information
- National Archives [1]