Compare and make mutual and stockholder-owned savings and associations of loan.
Some savings and loan associations are owned through stockholders, just as commercial banks and other corporations are owned through their stockholders. Other S&Ls, termed as mutuals, are owned through their depositors. While a person deposits money in an account at a mutual S&L, that person becomes part owner of the firm. The mutual S&L's profits (if any) are put in a special reserve account from which dividends are paid from time to time to the owner/depositors.