A savings bank is a financial institution whose primary purpose is accepting savings deposits and paying interest on those deposits. They originated in Europe during the 18th century with the aim of providing access to savings products to all levels in the population. Often associated with social good, these early banks were often designed to encourage low-income people to save money and have access to banking services. They were set up by governments or by socially committed groups or organisations such as with credit unions. The structure and legislation took many different forms in different countries over the 20th century. Savings banks and savings-and-loans are often confused. The original function of savings banks to service consumers was limited to savings. Savings banks invested in government and corporate debt. Savings and loan associations had a dual purpose which gave more importance to home loans. Towards the end of the 20th century their functions blurred as savings banks issued mortgages. The advent of Internet banking at the end of the 20th century saw a new phase in savings banks with the online savings bank that paid higher levels of interest in return for clients only having access over the web. History In Europe, savings banks originated in the 19th or sometimes even the 18th century. Their original objective was to provide easily accessible savings products to all strata of the population. In some countries, savings banks were created on public initiative, while in others, socially committed individuals created foundations to put in place the necessary infrastructure. In 1914, the New Student's Reference Work said of the origins: By country Nowadays, European savings banks have kept their focus on retail banking: payments, savings products, credits and insurances for individuals or small and medium-sized enterprises. Apart from this retail focus, they also differ from commercial banks by their broadly decentralised distribution network, providing local and regional outreach. Austria: see Erste Group Brazil: see Caixa Econômica Federal Bulgaria: see DSK Bank Czechoslovakia: see Economy of Communist Czechoslovakia France: see Groupe Caisse d'Épargne Germany: see Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe Italy: see Cassa di Risparmio New Zealand: Savings banks ceased to exist in 1987 as an official type of bank, being replaced with registered banks (Grimes, 1998) Norway: see Sparebank Portugal: see Caixa Geral de Depósitos Soviet Union: see sberkassa (сберкасса, сберегательная касса), often translated as “savings bank” even though sberkassas were not banks in the common sense. Initially they