Dunfermline Building Society facts for kids
 |
|
| Building Society (Mutual) | |
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 1869 |
| Defunct | 2014 |
| Headquarters | Dunfermline, Scotland, UK |
| Products | Savings and Mortgages |
| Parent | Nationwide Building Society |
The Dunfermline Building Society was a special type of bank based in the town of Dunfermline, Scotland. For a long time, it was the largest building society in Scotland. A building society is a financial company owned by its members—the people who save or borrow money with it.
Before it joined with a larger company in 2009, it was the 12th largest building society in the entire United Kingdom. By the end of 2007, it had total assets (the value of everything it owned) of £3.3 billion. However, the company faced serious money problems and was eventually taken over by the Nationwide Building Society. The Dunfermline brand was fully merged into Nationwide in 2014.
A Long History in Scotland
The Dunfermline Building Society was started way back in 1869 in the town of Dunfermline, which is how it got its name.
Over many years, the company grew bigger by joining with more than 20 other smaller building societies. This helped it expand across Scotland. In the spring of 1999, it even launched a telephone banking service called Dunfermline Direct.
By the end of 2005, the society had 34 branch offices and 38 smaller agencies all over Scotland. It was also a leader in providing money for social housing, which helps people find affordable homes.
What Happened in 2009?
In early 2009, the Dunfermline Building Society was in financial trouble. This was part of a bigger problem called a financial crisis that was affecting banks all over the world. The company's leaders tried to find ways to raise money to keep it going independently, but they were not successful.
On March 28, 2009, news reports said the company could no longer survive on its own. The Bank of England (the central bank of the UK) had to step in to manage the situation. The problem was that the society had made too many "bad loans," which were loans that were not likely to be paid back.
A Rescue by Nationwide
To protect the money of the people who saved with Dunfermline, a solution was found. On March 30, 2009, it was announced that the Nationwide Building Society would take over the healthy parts of the company.
Nationwide bought all of Dunfermline's branches, its main office, and most of its good loans. The Bank of England took control of about £1 billion in bad loans to handle them separately. After this, Dunfermline became a part of Nationwide.
On October 24, 2013, Nationwide announced that the Dunfermline Building Society name and brand would be fully merged into its own company, which happened in 2014.
