Savings bank
The origin of savings banks lies in liberal and philanthropic aspirations that motivated their promoters to create non-profit establishments aimed at promoting a culture of thrift and financial prudence among the lower classes, and using savings and the logic of compound interest as an incentive to think beyond short-term living horizons.In France, savings banks projects started to emerge in the 1750s and multiplied during the French Revolution but with no lasting success.Liberal luminaries including Adam Smith, Thomas Robert Malthus and Jean-Baptiste Say took interest in the economic and social role of savings.[1] The oldest lasting savings bank is widely recognized to have been the Ersparungsclasse der Allgemeinen Versorgungsanstalt established in Hamburg in 1778, followed by other endeavors in Germany and Switzerland in the late 18th century.By the early 21st century, savings banks were most significant in Germany and Spain, and to a lesser extent in Austria.