What was the name of the first savings bank in the United States, founded in 1816?

The Philadelphia Saving Fund Society was the first savings bank to organize and do business in the United States, beginning in 1816.

The institution was founded in Philadelphia in December 1816 by a group led by Condy Raguet, who had learned about the growing savings-bank movement in Great Britain. Its founders chose “Society” rather than “bank” partly because the word bank was unpopular and might have complicated the institution's state charter.

PSFS opened on December 2, 1816, in an office on South Sixth Street. Its first depositor was Curtis Roberts, who deposited five dollars. The organization later became a major Philadelphia institution, expanded its branches, and issued one of the city's early home mortgages in 1818.

The name is sometimes written Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, reflecting later usage, while Philadelphia Saving Fund Society was the original name. Emigrant Savings Bank and Bowery Savings Bank were important later institutions, but neither predates PSFS as the first U.S. savings bank.