SBS Bank is a New Zealand registered bank which was founded in 1869. In October 2008 it gained bank registration and the Southland Building Society became SBS Bank. It is a fully New Zealand-owned registered bank that has retained a mutual building society structure.
The Bank has a BBB credit rating.
It uses the prefix 03 for its account numbers which is the same as Westpac Bank NZ because they use the same 'lines'. The bank's head office is based in Invercargill.
History
SBS Bank was established in 1869, when one of its founders, James Walker Bain, walked 204 kilometers from Dunedin to Invercargill.The bank was founded in 1869 as the Southland Building, Land and Investment Society. Seven years later in 1876 it was renamed as Southland Building and Investment Society and Bank of Deposit. The bank's purpose was to provide a safe place for people to store their money and to help them get mortgages and own homes.
One of the founders James Walker Bain became the society's president for the next 30 years.[1]
In 1995 the name of the bank officially changed Southland Building Society and in 2008 to SBS Bank.[2]