TOTT 11 October 2018

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October 11, 2018
Port Alfred
BUSINESSFORUM
MYHOME
... with Simon Oliver
Catch up with what’s happening on the PA business front
GBS boss explains origin, purpose
of thriving mutual banking sector
‘It gives clients a say in
running of the business,
improves people’s lives’
JON HOUZET
The annual GBS Mutual Bank
dinner in Port Alfred is
always a highly anticipated
affair, with staff from the highly
respected 141-year-old institution
mingling and chatting with
long-time clients from the
coastal area.
As usual, Naartjie and Cheryl
Moss catered the dinner to
perfection, with superb food and
inviting décor. Forgoing the
usual recounting of the bank’s
figures, new chairman of the
board Prof Owen Skae delved
into the origins and history of
mutual banking.
He said his research arose
from asking himself, “What is
the purpose of a mutual bank
and is there a future for it?”
He found valuable insights in
Franklin J Sherman’s book,
Modern Story of Mutual Savings
Banks, published in 1934.
The genesis of mutual banks
came from the “Fr i e n d l y
Societies” established to help
the sick and poor. The earliest of
Children bring real joy to the home
Judy and I are visiting my brother
in Canada. We have three
generations all living together in a
cottage. We are being smothered
in generosity, food and love.
It is one thing to live in a
beautiful home and enjoy the
benefits it brings; but the real joy is
when the building comes to life with
the voices of its visitors.
We travelled for about two hours
north of Toronto to my brother’s
cottage on a lake.
He and Maureen have built a bit of
heaven in the woods.
Their children and their
grandchildren experience nature in
all its glory – especially when the
leaves change the whole range of
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these might have been the
Incorporation of Carters in Leith
in 1555.
“From other sources I have
read, the ‘Friendly Bank’ concept
first arose in Switzerland in the
1700s and then spread to the
United Kingdom in the 1800s,”
Skae said. “Nevertheless, the
best historical account that I
have come across is Sherman,
who highlights the role played by
Dr [Rev] Henry Duncan who
established a savings bank in
Ruthwell, Scotland in 1810,
primarily due to his questioning
of the legitimacy of Friendly
Societies, no less than the one
founded in Ruthwell in 1796.
Similar savings banks were
established in Germany, France
and Switzerland over the period
1765 to 1796, but Sherman was
of the view that they did not
meet the definition of a true
savings bank.
Duncan’s efforts soon saw
widespread development of the
concept. A savings bank was
founded in Edinburgh in 1814,
the Provident Institution for
Savings in 1816 by James
autumnal colours at this time of year.
One might imagine enjoying the
peace and quiet of such space with
only the loons (a local water bird) to
interrupt you. But no! The true joy is
when the grandchildren, all below
six, disembarked from the boat and
immediately began to
enthusiastically explore the property
and remind themselves of their
special places. Lots of noise, lots of
l a u g h t e r.
BANKING LEGACY: GBS Mutual Bank chairman Prof Owen Skae, left, and CEO Anton Vorster, right,
with Elizabeth Cooper, the daughter of former GBS chairman Kyle Stone and sister of another
former chairman, Chris Stone, at the bank’s annual Port Alfred dinner
Picture: JON HOUZET
Savage (the first in the world by
legal charter), the Bank for
Savings in New City in 1819 by
philanthropist Thomas Eddy,
after consultation with his friend
Patrick Colquhon, a London
magistrate, and then The
Institution for Savings for the
Town of Portland and Vicinity in
Maine in 1819.
This continued throughout the
Thanksgiving weekend. And we
weren’t excluded from the
excitement as little hands grabbed
ours and pulled us towards their
special place.
At home it was out with the
crayons, scissors and whatever they
could get their hands on. It wasn’t
long before the cottage had pictures
stuck on the walls, and grand uncles
and aunts (that’s us) were d r aw i n g
hearts, cutting shapes and being
fully involved. I can’t tell you how
much joy it brought us.
It wasn’t long before the younger
family were packing up and getting
ready to leave ... and then all of a
sudden we had waved goodbye and
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Mutual (“mutually beneficial”)
savings banks began primarily
for wage-earners and seamen.
They also created a savings
outlet for people outside of
mainstream business, such as
women. “Simply put, a mutual
bank’s purpose is for the benefit
of the depositors who have a say
in the running of the bank. Why
it was just the four of us, and it was
quiet and tidy, and it was heaven.
I think we enjoyed the quiet even
more because of the energy of the
children and because they had
enthusiastically involved us in their
activities and excitement.
The children had brought life to our
home ... and for a moment helped us
forget that we might have a few
aches and pains and are a little
slower than we used to be. They
reminded us how much fun it was to
live life to the full.
I’m sure many of you have had
similar experiences; please share
them with me on 082-653-5643 or
s i m o n . o l i v e r @ s e e f f. c o m .
I look forward to hearing from you.
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is this important?” Skae asked.
“If we consider the US, mutual
banks are seen to be safe institutions.
According to America’s
Mutual Banks (AMB), there are
494 mutual banks in 45 states
and at March 31 they had total
assets of $374bn (R5.4-trillion).
Their website reports that ‘since
February 2007, over 525
financial institutions with over
$800bn (R12-trillion) in total
assets have failed. Of those, only
20 were mutual institutions with
total assets of approximately
$3bn (R43bn)’.”
Mutual banks generally stick
to providing the basic banking
services required by a
community, like retail services
and products, checking and
savings products and make
home loans, other consumer
loans and loans for local
businesses, Skae explained.
Mutuals generally did not engage
in those activities recognised
as causing the financial
crisis that began in the northern
hemisphere autumn of 2008.
Customer satisfaction with
mutual banks is reported in both
the UK and Australia.
“The visionaries who
conceived of savings banks,
whether men of the cloth or
philanthropists, or just wanting
to give people a better deal, did
so because they saw a purpose
to achieve a better life for
members of their community.
“It is the bedrock of mutuality
and it is why we stand before
you today,” Skae said. “Hence
my view is now more steadfast
than ever that mutual banks are
necessary and in fact essential
to the development of our
e c o n o m y. ”
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