Savings are any money set aside from current consumption, whether it is put in the bank or under the mattress. The later eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries saw the rapid development of country banks, often linked to the wealthy individuals and famines who had earlier lent money on their own account. The development of a banking network, whether it took the form of independent country banks or the branches of larger banks, had important implications for an industrialising economy. Today, mortgages usually provide finance for private individuals to buy houses, but in the eighteenth century their function was to enable land or property owners to raise money on the security of their property. Most of the fixed assets in industry continued to be financed through local or family connections or simply through ploughing back retained profits. The interest rate reflected the growing demand for credit and the growing supply of savings, as well as increasing efficiency in financial intermediation.