COOPERATIVE BANKING

General concept:
Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take deposits and lend money in most parts of the world. Cooperative banking, as discussed here, includes retail banking carried out by credit unions, mutual savings banks, building societies and cooperatives, as well as commercial banking services provided by mutual organizations (such as cooperative) to cooperative businesses. The Co-operative Bank can trace its origins back to 1872 and the formation of the Loan and Deposit Department of the Co-operative Wholesale Society. Four years later it changed its name to the CWS Bank and although in the early years it only took deposits and granted loans to local retail co-operative societies, it was not long before it was acting as a bank for personal customers. The Bank grew steadily with branches opening in Newcastle, London and Glasgow and after the First World War, the first in-store banking points were established in Co-op stores and more branches were opened in key locations. By 1972 The Co-operative Bank, which was then known as The Co-operative Bank, had 32 branches throughout the country and in 1975 The Co-operative Bank became the first bank for some 40 years to join the Committee of London Clearing Banks. From then on, it has grown at a rapid rate. Today, The Co-operative Bank is the only UK Clearing Bank to publish an ethical stance whereby it clearly tells its customers who it will and will not do business with. Since launching its ethical positioning in May 1992, thousands of concerned people who do not wish their money to be used for unethical reasons have had the opportunity to choose a bank that will not do business with unethical companies and organisations. The Co-operative Bank was one of the first banks to offer its customers a 24 hour a day telephone banking service and it is now one of the biggest telephone banking operators in the UK. It has call centres at Skelmersdale and Stockport for personal

customers and at Salford for its Business Direct telephone banking service especially developed for small and medium sized companies. The Co-operative Bank has over 140 outlets covering most major towns and cities in the country and is a member of the LINK consortium, which means customers can use over 35,000 ATMs throughout the UK free of charge. In May 1994 the Cooperative Bank launched the first fully automated Bankpoint Kiosk which is an unstaffed outlet that is also available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Customers can use the LINK cash machine, an automatic deposit machine, and a video telephone link with The Co-operative Bank's Armchair Banking Service. Over the years the Co-operative Bank has gained a reputation for introducing innovations that were later to be adopted by the rest of the industry. For example, since 1974 The Co-operative Bank has consistently offered free banking for personal customers who remain in credit and was the first Clearing Bank to offer an interest bearing cheque account called Cheque & Save. In 1991 The Co-operative Bank shook the credit card market when it introduced a guaranteed free for life Gold Visa card, and in 1993, The Co-operative Bank launched another free for life Visa card named the Robert Owen card after the social reformer who was considered to be the father of the consumer Co-operative Movement. In 1996 The Co-operative Bank introduced the lowest ever interest rate credit card - the Advantage card, especially designed for people who constantly borrow and so find a low interest rate more advantageous than an interest free period. In 1997 The Co-operative Bank celebrated its 125th anniversary by launching its Partnership approach, becoming the first company in the UK to produce a warts and all social report involving all of the seven partners involved in The Co-operative Bank's activities. The Co-operative Banks reputation for innovation was again demonstrated in October 1999 when they launched smile, the first full Internet bank in the UK. smile has been a breath of fresh air in the banking market, with its costs reflecting the reduced costs of Internet banking - offering its customers higher interest rates for savings and lower interest rates for borrowing.

The Co-operative Bank made a return to the mortgage market in 2000 when it launched a green flexible mortgage. In 2001, The Co-operative Bank launched the UK's first ever fixed rate credit card, which offered a guaranteed rate of interest until 2006. In 2002 The Co-operative Group board announced the formation of Co-operative Financial Services Ltd (CFS). The move followed the decision to bring The Co-operative Bank and Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS) closer together under common strategic leadership. In 2009 Britannia merged with The Co-operative Bank. The joining of two strong, ethically minded businesses provides a real alternative to other banks on the high street. In 2011 The Co-operative Financial services rebranded as The Co-operative Banking Group, incorporating The Co-operative Bank (including smile and Britannia). In addition to over four million customer accounts, The Co-operative Bank is banker to local authorities, many businesses and particularly the retail co-operative movement.

Specific banks:
The Philippines has a comprehensive banking system encompassing various types of banks, from large universal banks to small rural banks and even non-banks. As at 31 March 2011, there are 19 universal banks, 19 commercial banks, 73 thrift banks, 595 rural banks, 40 credit unions and 15 non-banks with quasi-banking functions, all licensed with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) under Republic Act No. 8791, also known as the General Banking Act of 2000, share roughly the same powers.

Rural and cooperative banks are the more popular type of banks in the rural communities. Their role is to promote and expand the rural economy in an orderly and effective manner by providing the people in the rural communities with basic financial services. Rural and cooperative banks help farmers through the stages of production, from buying seedlings to marketing of their produce. Rural banks and cooperative

banks are differentiated from each other by ownership. While rural banks are privately owned and managed, cooperative banks are organized/owned by cooperatives or federation of cooperatives. A rural bank has the power to provide adequate credit facilities to farmers and merchants or to cooperatives of such farmers and merchants and, in general, to the people of the rural communities of which the rural bank operates in.

List of cooperative banks

Agusan del Norte Cooperative Bank Bataan Cooperative Bank Banco Cooperativa de Zamboanga Camiguin Cooperative Bank Capiz Settlers Cooperative Bank Cooperative Bank of Agusan del Sur Cooperative Bank of Aklan Cooperative Bank of Aurora Cooperative Bank of Benguet Cooperative Bank of Bohol Cooperative Bank of Bukidnon Cooperative Bank of Bulacan Cooperative Bank of Cagayan Cooperative Bank of Camarines Norte Cooperative Bank of Camarines Sur Cooperative Bank of Cavite Cooperative Bank of Cebu Cooperative Bank of Davao del Sur Cooperative Bank of Ilocos Norte Cooperative Bank of Iloilo Cooperative Bank of La Union Cooperative Bank of Lanao del Norte Cooperative Bank of Misamis Oriental Cooperative Bank of Mountain Province Cooperative Bank of Negros Oriental Cooperative Bank of Cotabato Cooperative Bank of Nueva Ecija

Cooperative Bank of Palawan Cooperative Bank of Pampanga Cooperative Bank of Quezon Province Cooperative Bank of Surigao del Sur Cooperative Bank of Tarlac Cooperative Bank of Zambales Cooperative Bank of Zamboanga del Norte Cooperative Bank of Zamboanga del Sur Countryside Cooperative Bank of Batangas First Isabela Cooperative Bank Ilocos Sur Cooperative Bank Leyte Cooperative Bank Metro South Cooperative Bank National Teachers and Employees Cooperative Bank Occidental Mindoro Cooperative Bank Samahang Nayon Cooperative Bank of Nueva Vizcaya Sorsogon Provincial Cooperative Bank Southern Leyte Cooperative Bank

Bank profile:
Larger institutions are often called cooperative banks. Some are tightly integrated federations of credit unions, though those member credit unions may not subscribe to all nine of the strict principles of the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU). Like credit unions, cooperative banks are owned by their customers and follow the cooperative principle of one person, one vote. Unlike credit unions, however, cooperative banks are often regulated under both banking and cooperative legislation. They provide services such as savings and loans to non-members as well as to members and some participate in the wholesale markets for bonds, money and even equities. [2] Many cooperative banks are traded on public stock markets, with the result that they are partly owned by non-members. Member control is diluted by these outside stakes, so they may be regarded as semi-cooperative. Cooperative banking systems are also usually more integrated than credit union systems. Local branches of cooperative banks elect their own boards of directors and manage their own operations, but most strategic decisions require approval from a

central office. Credit unions usually retain strategic decision-making at a local level, though they share back-office functions, such as access to the global payments system, by federating. Some cooperative banks are criticized for diluting their cooperative principles. Principles 2-4 of the "Statement on the Co-operative Identity" can be interpreted to require that members must control both the governance systems and capital of their cooperatives. A cooperative bank that raises capital on public stock markets creates a second class of shareholders who compete with the members for control. In some circumstances, the members may lose control. This effectively means that the bank ceases to be a cooperative. Accepting deposits from non-members may also lead to a dilution of member control.