I once gave away more money than Andrew Carnegie or Bill Gates

This is a lovely article from the FT, hat tip to Stumbling and Mumbling
. http://www.johnkay.com/strategy/568
The most telling lines are the following:

"The business I joined gathered deposits from small savers, mostly through its branches. It lent the proceeds to house buyers. Founded as a self-help organisation by provident Yorkshire folk 150 years ago, the Halifax became the world’s largest mortgage lender. Its quality of service and competitive interest rates trounced conventional banks in the UK retail savings market. The simple business model was very robust. In the early 1990s, a combination of high interest rates, recession and falling house prices posed much more serious problems for UK homeowners than anything seen, or likely, in the current credit crunch. But the Halifax remained profitable and mortgages readily available."

Got that? Remained profitable and mortgages readily available.
The difference is that now they were looking to make a profit for shareholders. Then they focussed on providing service and satisfaction to their customers.
Of course, there were no 125% mortgages then. I think the best was liable to be 80%.
And it was all financed from people's savings.