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Washington Mutual Bank: A Long History with the Community

by jsheets1959

Washington Mutual Bank, better known as WaMu, is one of the
largest banks in the United States.  Originally based in the
Washington state area, WaMu has since expanded to be a national
company that even has its stock actively traded on the American
stock market.  One of the aspects of this history that makes this
bank especially interesting is the fact that they are constantly
on the forefront of innovation.

There are many examples of Washington Mutual being one of the
first banks to experiment with new ideas or practices that are
commonplace today among banks and banking institutions in
general.  Some of theses examples include:

- The first home loan, given in 1890

- The first "shared" network of ATM machines, in the late
1970s.

- Designed a retail store design that was so unique that it was
issued a U.S. patent to avoid copycats.

These are just three examples out of many more that show how it
can pay to break out of the pack and think creatively.  What
makes the first example even more amazing, however, is that while
they gave what might very well have been the first home loan in
1890, the bank was only founded in 1889.

Washington Mutual was started in Seattle shortly after a
devastating fire nearly wiped out the city.  During this time of
rebuilding this bank become renowned for being extremely involved
in the local community.  This reputation helped the bank to grow
and expand as the city of Seattle recovered, and they did well
enough that eventually they continued to grow and go from a local
bank to a regional, then national, bank chain.

WaMu's original name in 1889 was actually "The Washington
National Building and Loan Association" and was developed
specifically to set up a safe system where investors could lend
money to neighbors who needed to rebuild after the Seattle fire. 
This system which helped to guarantee safe investing and
efficient use of the money helped create a bank that would still
be growing over a century later.

This bank made the first monthly-installment home loan, at least
on the Pacific Coast, on February 10, 1890, to a Norwegian sailor
who borrowed $700 in order to build a hose in Ballard, which was
a specific Seattle neighborhood.  This "creative" version of a
home loan proved to be both wildly successful and poplar, gaining
so much press that Seattle ended up being re-built on these
loans, as Washington Mutual made more than 2,000 similar loans to
help build 250 blocks of housing in Seattle.

In modern times, WaMu continues to strive to be a bank that is
known for being a part of every community you can find a branch
in.  The first open annual shareholder meeting took place in
1984, and has remained an annual tradition since then. 
Washington Mutual is now a publicly owned bank that is larger
than at any other time in its history thanks to continued
growth.

No one can know what the future holds, but if the past is any
indication, then the forward thinking that has helped Washington
Mutual Bank grow in the past will keep them at the forefront of
banking in the future.

Thomas Boston, Principal of <a TARGET="_NEW"
href="http://www.825credit.com">825credit.com</a> is a personal
finance expert and consumer credit advocate who specializes in
responsible credit management and creation. He can be reached
online with comments, <questions and other inquiries at
tboston[at]825credit.com

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