Friendly societies (also referred to as mutual societies) have been around in the UK for hundreds of years, the societies were originally set up as a way of allowing people to put all their money in one pot in order to receive benefits in times of ill health or old age before the welfare state.
Nowadays, these societies offer similar services as banks or insurance companies. But the main difference is that the profits generated by these societies don't go to shareholders (an owner of shares in a company), they are retained for the benefit of the policyholders. Mutuals put their members best interests first and generally provide a faster and more efficient personal service than the larger banks.