When the BMB commenced business on September 1st 1919, it did so with its Head Office located in temporary accommodation in the City Council’s Water Department in Edmund Street, and with a network of eighteen branches, all in temporary locations. The necessity of utilising temporary accommodation stemmed from the lack of time to find permanent premises (a special meeting of the Bank’s Committee to discuss the Bank’s options was held as late as June 23rd 1919) and the more relevant fact that the Bank commenced operations without any working capital and therefore had no funds to purchase or lease property. When premises were found that were deemed to be suitable for conversion as permanent branches, the City Council initially purchased these in the name of the Housing & Estates Committee until the Bank was able to defray the cost from the profits generated by its operations.

The Bank’s decision to operate with a network of branches resulted (a) from the experience of the Birmingham Corporation Savings Bank, which utilised factories and other places of employment as branches, (b) the practicality of providing a service to a large population (almost 1 million) that the Council was planning to disperse over an enlarged city, and (c) the knowledge gained from a visit to the Manchester & Salford Savings Bank.

The temporary premises initially utilised included rooms at Institutes and Council properties, the front rooms of houses, the former premises of a butcher and a public house, the ticket office at a public baths, and a fireman's hut. When property was subsequently purchased, the typical premises obtained were shops with dwelling accommodation behind - as that accommodation usually had a tenant with occupation rights provided by the Rent Restrictions Act, the Bank was restricted to creating a branch in the confined space of a small shop.