The sberkassa (savings account) system was operated as a state savings office of the USSR State Bank (Gosbank). The system began operations in February 1923 in Petrograd (St. Petersburg). Receivables were treated as government debt whereby the state borrowed from the population through individual accounts. The system relied on a central bank in each union republic feeding off personal accounts at state-run "savings offices" (sberkassy) in each respective republic of the USSR. Sberkassa was the only personal banking available to the population until 1988 to 1991 when the Sberbank (Savings Bank) system replaced it along with several other state banks.