SBI group, the largest bank owned by the Government of India, is India's first universal bank. It offers commercial banking, investment banking, and securities trading. Of late, it has also started providing insurance and credit card facilities. It has over 13,600 branches, 5,000 ATMs and a balance sheet footage of Rs. 5 lakh cr.State Bank of India (SBI), the government owned largest Indian Bank may be termed as the first universal bank of India.
The origin of SBI goes back to the early part of the 19th century, with the establishment of the Bank of Calcutta on June 2, 1806. It was renamed as Bank of Bengal on January 2, 1809. Later in 1840, another joint stock bank of British India namely Bank of Bombay was established, followed by Bank of Madras in 1843.
These three banks were amalgamated to become the Imperial Bank of India in 1921. In its multi-pronged role, the Imperial Bank, with 70 branches functioned as a commercial bank, a bankers' bank and a banker to the government. |
