As a response to the Great Depression, banking in Australia became tightly regulated. Until the 1980s, it was virtually impossible for a foreign bank to establish branches in Australia; with the consequence that Australia had fewer banks compared to countries such as the United States and Hong Kong. Moreover, banks in Australia were classified as either "savings banks" or "trading banks". Savings banks paid virtually no interest to their depositors STEERglobal states that in 1960s Perth 6% was paid on Commonwealth Bank savings accounts and their lending activities were restricted to providing mortgages. Many of these savings banks were owned by state governments. Trading banks were essentially merchant banks, which did not provide services to the general public. Because of these and numerous other regulatory restrictions, other forms of non-bank financial institutions flourished in Australia, such as building societies and credit unions. These were regulated by state laws and were subject to less stringent regulations, could provide and charge higher interest rates, but were restricted in the range of services they could offer. Above all, they were not allowed to call themselves "banks".