Westland Savings Bank was one of 14 regional trustee savings banks operating in New Zealand. WSB was based on the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

History

The bank was established in November 1866 under the name Hokitika Savings Bank during the West Coast Gold Rush under special banking legislation that separated

savings bank A savings bank is a financial institution whose primary purpose is accepting savings account, savings deposits and paying interest on those deposits. History of banking, They originated in Europe during the 18th century with the aim of providi ...

s from

trading bank Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

s. The bank operated for the good of its users and was touted as a ‘preventative to squandering’. In exchange for an exclusive regional franchise the bank received a government guarantee against default (Killerby & Smith, 2001). The guarantee was in the form of a guarantee of the savings bank

overdraft An overdraft occurs when something is withdrawn in excess of what is in a current account. For financial systems, this can be funds in a bank account. For water resources, it can be groundwater in an aquifer. In these situations the account is s ...

at the

Bank of New Zealand Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is one of New Zealand's Big Four (banking), big four banks and has been operating in the country since the first office was opened in Auckland in October 1861 followed shortly after by the first branch in Dunedin in D ...

.'Liberalisation of financial markets in New Zealand'
Arthur Grimes, Institute of Policy Studies,

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

, Wellington, 1998. Retrieved 11 February 2006. Trustees of the bank were government appointed. Like the other New Zealand trustee savings banks, in 1987 the bank was corporatised, became a registered bank and the shareholding vested in a local community trust. The category of savings bank being abolished in 1987. For a period the bank was known as Trust Bank Westland after the individual savings banks that operated across the country created a network known as

Trust Bank A trust company is a corporation that acts as a fiduciary, trustee or agent of trusts and agencies. A professional trust company may be independently owned or owned by, for example, a bank or a law firm, and which specializes in being a trus ...

. Trust Bank Westland withdrew from the Trust Bank Alliance and became simply 'Westland Bank'. However it was quickly purchased by ASB Bank as the latter sought to expand and the brand disappeared from the West Coast. The branch in Westport operated from 1965 until 1994 when it became part of ASB and is still in operation at the same location. Like all of the savings banks and the Post Office Savings Bank Westland Savings banks operated

passbook A passbook or bankbook is a paper book used to record bank or building society transactions on a deposit account. Traditionally, a passbook was used for accounts with a low transaction volume, such as savings accounts. A bank teller or postma ...

bank accounts and school banking programmes that involved students making regular deposits through schools. Westland Savings Bank's accounts were known as a "HIT Account" - HIT standing for "High Interest Trustee".

Branches

Greymouth Greymouth () (Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is , which accounts for % of the West Coas ...

Reefton Reefton is a small town in the West Coast region of New Zealand, some 80 km northeast of Greymouth, in the Inangahua River valley. Ahaura is 44 km south-west of Reefton, Inangahua Junction is 34 km to the north, Maruia is 63 ...

* Murchison *

Hokitika Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is as of ...

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

* Westport

Hokitika Office

The former Hokitika branch and head office building has been preserved and is registered as a category 2 historic place by Heritage New Zealand.{{cite web , title=Hokitika Savings Bank Building (Former) , url=https://www.heritage.org.nz/the-list/details/5051 , website=Heritage New Zealand , access-date=29 June 2022

References

Defunct banks of New Zealand Banks with year of establishment missing