Small Savings

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30830, 16 August 1965, Page 12

Small Savings

The Post Office, in its annual report to Parliament, blames the large number of withdrawals from its Savings Bank accounts in the last six months of 1964-65 on the entry of trading banks into the savings field and on the greater number of trustee savings banks. Deposits with the bank last financial year exceeded withdrawals by £17.9 million, compared with £29.2 million the previous year; this was the lowest excess of deposits since the £12.5 million in 1961-62. But interest is credited to these accounts only in March (except when an account is closed); if interest is excluded from the calculation, last year’s excess of deposits was only £7.0 million, compared with the previous year’s £19.0 million. And if the same calculation is made over the last six months of the financial year, an.excess o' withdrawals of £2.5 million is apparent. In the same six months, deposits in trustee savings banks (net of interest) exceeded withdrawals by £7.0 million, and deposits in private savings banks (the first of which opened on October 1) exceeded withdrawals by £26.7 million. These figures support the Post Office’s contention that increased competition led to a deterioration in its figures over the last six months of the year. Totalling the figures for the three types of savings banks and for national savings—now of dwindling importance—shows the over-all trend in small savings. In the year ended March the excess of deposits (including interest) in all small-savings accounts was £62.1 million. This figure is nearly £2O million higher than the £42.9 million in the previous year, which, in turn, was the highest figure recorded up to that time. The multiplication last year of trustee savings banks, and their branches, and the introduction of private savings banks, have made a worthwhile addition to the nation’s savings and to the resources available to the Government. The Post Office is taking a realistic view of the changed circumstances. “ This greatly increased competition for “ the people’s savings is a challenge ”, the annual report says, “ and the Post Office is doing all it can “ by way of improved services to maintain the place of the savings bank in the field ”. The inroads made into the virtual monopoly of the Post Office Savings Bank have brought benefits both to savers and to borrowers (mainly the Government) —an effective illustration of the advantages of competition.