Postbanken (lit. The Postal Bank) 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 ...

postal savings bank Postal savings systems provide depositors who do not have access to banks a safe and convenient method to save money. Many nations have operated banking systems involving post offices to promote saving money among the poor. History In 1861, G ...

. The bank offered its services through the Norwegian post office. It was first merged into

DNB ASA DNB ASA (formerly DnB NOR ASA) is Norway's largest financial services group with total combined assets of more than NOK 1.9 trillion and a market capitalisation NOK 164 billion as of 20 May 2016. DNB's head office is located in Oslo. The two lar ...

as a subsidiary, and then dissolved in 2011.

History

Postbanken was founded in 1948 after major political battle as Norges Postsparebank with the goal to incurate to

saving Saving is income not spent, or deferred consumption. Methods of saving include putting money aside in, for example, a deposit account, a pension account, an investment fund, or as cash. Saving also involves reducing expenditures, such as recur ...

s, though the maximum amount allowed to be saved per person was set to

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, of which these ...

10,000. In 1948, the bank had services provided at 3,600

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

s and post outlets. The first loans were often large and given to investments in rural areas. Until 1999, the bank was owned by the

Government of Norway The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the prime minister of Norway. Legislative power i ...

, but then it was merged with

DnB NOR DNB ASA (formerly DnB NOR ASA) is Norway's largest financial services group with total combined assets of more than NOK 1.9 trillion and a market capitalisation NOK 164 billion as of 20 May 2016. DNB's head office is located in Oslo. The two lar ...

. The bank dissolved in 2011. In 2001, the Postal Giro System was bought by Bankenes Betalingssentral and the year after the two giro systems merged, making the 60-year-old postgiro system history.

External links

History of Postbanken

DnB NOR corporate web site

References

{{Authority control Banks of Norway Formerly government-owned companies of Norway Companies based in Oslo Banks established in 1948 Norwegian companies established in 1948 Postal savings system Postal system of Norway