The Swansea Building Society, ( cy, Cymdeithas Adeiladu'r Abertawe), is an independent mutual

building society A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially savings and mortgage lending. Building societies exist in the United Kingdo ...

based in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, Wales. It is a member of the

Building Societies Association The Building Societies Association (BSA) was originally established in 1869. It is the voice for all 43 UK building societies as well as six large credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, i ...

. The Society was founded in 1923 by local estate agent John Oliver Watkins and a group of local business men as a mutual organisation to allow purchases of new homes in the aftermath of the First World War. Today it is one of only three remaining building societies based in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and the only building society or bank with its headquarters in Wales west of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. At 31 December 2021, the Society's total assets were £463.5m with some 21,170 saver accounts and over 2,120 mortgage accounts. The chief executive is Alun Williams. Swansea Building Society benefited from the

Icelandic financial crisis Icelandic refers to anything of, from, or related to Iceland and may refer to: *Icelandic people *Icelandic language *Icelandic alphabet * Icelandic cuisine See also * Icelander (disambiguation) * Icelandic Airlines, a predecessor of Icelandai ...

in 2009, as local savers looked to invest in a safer institution. The Society has since continued to grow by opening three branches in

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

Cowbridge Cowbridge ( cy, Y Bont-faen) is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately west of the centre of Cardiff. The Cowbridge with Llanblethian community and civil parish elect a town council. A Cowbridge electoral ward exists for e ...

and

Mumbles Mumbles ( cy, Mwmbwls) is a headland sited on the western edge of Swansea Bay on the southern coast of Wales. Toponym Mumbles has been noted for its unusual place name. The headland is thought by some to have been named by French sailors, ...

in recent years, with all branches providing bi-lingual services for members. In 2021 it established an additional presence in Abergavenny to extend its geographic reach and provide a base upon which to establish an additional branch. In 2019, it relocated its main branch to Portland Street in

Swansea city centre Swansea city centre in Swansea, Wales, contains the main shopping, leisure and nightlife district in Swansea. The city centre covers much of the Castle ward including the area around Oxford Street, Castle Square, and the Quadrant Shopping Centr ...

, retaining and refurbishing its previous premises to host its expanding Head Office functions. The Society remains entirely mutual and independent in its outlook, relying only on funding from its Members through savings accounts and not using any retail funding or HM Treasury funding subsidies. It provides a personalised and face-to-face mortgage service for its existing and potential Members rather than using any automated vetting or screening. This approach delivers flexible solutions for potential borrowers and very safe lending for the Society. As a result, Society mortgage provisions remain low, amounting to only 0.14% (cf. 0.23% as the industry sector average published for the end of 2020) and payment arrears of only £38k, i.e. 0.32% (cf. 0.78% as the peer average at the end of 2021). During 2020, the Society successfully launched its online savings product, together with automated transfers for its savers to manage their savers accounts with the Society alongside their clearing bank accounts. This enables easy transfers from current account in one to higher rate savings accounts in the other, thus gaining the best of both financial solutions. The full range of Society products is available at exactly the same rates - either through branches or online - or more importantly to both current Members and new Members alike. In May 2010, the Society launched a savings account in partnership with

Swansea City A.F.C. Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

, earning the club additional revenue through commission. The Society is now a sponsor for

and retains its close links with its community and local charities. In February 2022, the Society introduced a new set of "Green" mortgages to encourage new or existing members to improve the energy efficiency of their properties.

References

External links

* {{UK Building Societies Building societies of Wales Banks established in 1923 Organizations established in 1923 Companies based in Swansea 1923 establishments in Wales