savings and loan association

savings and loan association (or "S&L"), also known as a thrift, is a financial institution that specializes in accepting savings deposits and making mortgage and other loans. The S&L or thrift term is mainly used in the United States; similar institutions in the United Kingdom, Ireland and some Commonwealth countries include building societies and trustee savings banks.

They are often mutually held (often called mutual savings banks[citation needed]), meaning that the depositors and borrowers are members with voting rights, and have the ability to direct the financial and managerial goals of the organization, similar to the policyholders of a mutual insurance company. It is possible for an S&L to be a joint stock company and even publicly traded. However, this means that it is no longer truly an association, and depositors and borrowers no longer have managerial control.

By law, thrifts must have at least 65 percent of their lending in mortgages and other consumer loans — making them particularly vulnerable to housing downturns such as the deep one the U.S. has experienced since 2007.