BANK'S BIRTHDAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 134, 8 June 1932, Page 5

BANK'S BIRTHDAY.

AUCKLAND ANNIVERSARY.

EIGHTY-FIVE YEARS OLD,

FINE RECORD OF PROGRESS,

To-day Ts the 85th birthday of the Auckland Savings Bank. Since June 8, 1847, the ideal of the public-minded citizens who founded the bank has been carried out by successive trustees. The policy was and is the inculcation of thrift among the community rather than making a profit. Difficulties confronted those men who first attempted to found the bank, and an advertisement in the "Auckland Times" of Tuesday, March 18, 1845, shows the agitation made in those days for a savings bank: —"To his Excellency the Governor, to his Lordship the Bishop of New Zealand, to his Honor the Chief Justice, to the clergy of the colony in general, and to the members of the Executive and Legislative Council, this question is respectfully put, and will be hobdomadally repeated, till some explanation is obtained: 'What have the working classes of New Zealand done that they should bo denied the national advantages and privileges of a savings bank?'"

J * Rapid Growth. Once founded, the bank quickly grew, and the amount to the credit of depositors on March 31 last was £(»,755,000. In furtherance of its policy, the bank each year devotes large sums of its surplus earnings to philanthropic causes. Endowments and charities have benefited to the extent of £110,000 to date. Although the deposits definitely indicate the bank's steady progress, it is when comparing its present-day activities with those of the past that tho romance of its stead}' growth is realised. A wooden building with a shingle roof was the first home of the bank in Mechanics' Institute, which one time stood in Court Lane. A section on the present site in Queen Street was bought in 18;">7, and seven years later the bank building was erected. Since then the building has been enlarged, and there has been a transformation into the imposing structure which Aucklanders know to-day. There are also branches throughout the suburbs. There was great disappointment for the promoters in the first week of the bank's career. The doors were opened on June 8 by a staff of two honorary managers, and eleven days went by before the first depositor, Mr. Matthew Fleming, arrived.- He banked £10. From that day onwards the bank made rapid strides. Now the staff numbers 68, and at times 4000 depositors are dealt with in a day.