Lloyd's is the largest insurance society in Britain, having its origins in 1688 in a café opened by Edward Lloyd, an English merchant, in Tower Street, Thameside. Lloyd's is not only an insurance organization, but also an insurance marketplace, similar to, but different from, Lloyd's in that it only provides its members with a place to trade and services, and does not write business itself. Lloyd's terms and conditions and statement formats are widely influential around the world, and the rates it sets are a benchmark for the global insurance industry.