Fellesbanken was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

that existed between 1920 and 1985 with offices in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. It was created as a

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central b ...

for the Norwegian savings banks as well as functioning as a

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit. It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with co ...

. It merged with Sparebanken Oslo/Akershus in 1985 to form

Sparebanken ABC Sparebanken ABC, sometimes branded as ABC Bank, was a Norway, Norwegian sparebank, savings bank based in Oslo, in existence between 1985 and 1990. The bank was a merger between Sparebanken Oslo/Akershus (founded in 1822) as Christiania Sparebank) ...

. It is now part of DnB NOR.

History

Fellesbanken was created with two functions. First of all it was to function as a central bank for the savings banks of Norway. Originally, the savings banks of Norway were all independent banks without branches, though they still had a need for central banking functions. It was not until after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

that it became normal for savings banks to merge and the need for such a central bank depleted. Fellesbanken was also a commercial bank, and allowed the savings banks to have such a bank. Commercial banks had certain privileges that savings banks didn't, especially within the business sector. These privileges disappeared, and by the time of their merger they were non-existent. In the 1970s Fellesbanken established branches in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

, Bodø,

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporati ...

Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsborg is part of the fifth largest urban area in Norway when paired with neigh ...

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the ...

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

and

Vadsø Vadsø (; sme, Čáhcesuolu; fkv, Vesisaari) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark County, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vadsø, which was the administrative centre of the former Finnmark county. O ...

. After the establishment of regional savings banks Fellesbanken became redundant and a competitor, and in the 1980s the bank was made a savings bank. In 1985 it merged with Sparebanken Oslo/Akershus. {{Authority control Defunct banks of Norway Companies based in Oslo Banks established in 1920 Banks disestablished in 1985 1985 disestablishments in Norway Norwegian companies established in 1920