Terminating deposits were a form of savings-and-loan that were one of the key products of the early building society movement in the UK and from there they spread through what is now the Commonwealth. They were banned in the UK around 1910, and are now illegal everywhere, the last vestiges being seen in New Zealand. The key features were: terminating deposits were open to subscription by depositors for a period of time until the required number of depositors to make it viable had been found. Then the Group as it was known would be closed off and subsequent applicants would be enrolled into the next group. depositors were contracted to make a small deposit on a regular basis e.g. weekly or monthly (similar to insurance savings policies) no interest was received on these deposits whenever the group had enough funds a ballot would be held of all depositors who were up to date with payments. The ballot prize was an interest free mortgage loan for around 60% of the value of a house (in line with the local rules for trustee investments). Characteristically the groups had a lifespan of 20–25 years and no ballots would be held in the first 10 years while funds built up. By the time ballots started after 10 years, ballot winners would normally have enough funds saved to cover the 40% contribution to buy a house with the other 60% coming from the interest free mortgage. As originally established some depositors would never receive a mortgage (win a ballot) i.e. the number of ballots over the life of the scheme was less than the number of depositors. So why would anyone join a scheme where you might make deposits for 20–25 years and never receive interest on them and simply get the amount you had saved back at the end of the period? The answer goes back to the conditions of the working class at the time they were devised and the working class self-help movement which also gave rise to trade unions, the co-operative movement etc. The time is the late 18th century when the building society movement was starting. Working-class people did not have access to the banking system and critically nor did their self-help enterprises. Accordingly, the terminating deposit product had to be designed in such a way that it did not depend in any way on the wider financial markets and