State Bank of India (SBI) a Fortune 500 company is an Indian Multinational, Public Sector Banking and Financial services statutory body headquartered in Mumbai. The rich heritage and legacy of over 200 years, accredits SBI as the most trusted Bank by Indians through generations.

 

We are the largest banking and financial services organization in India, with an asset base of over Rs. 61 trillion. We serve over 50 cr. customers through our vast network of over 22,500 branches, 63,580 ATMs/ADWMs, 82,900 BC outlets, with an undeterred focus on innovation, and customer centricity, which stems from the core values of the Bank - Service, Transparency, Ethics, Politeness and Sustainability.

 

The Bank has successfully diversified businesses through its various subsidiaries i.e. SBI General Insurance, SBI Life Insurance, SBI Mutual Fund, SBI Card, etc. It has spread its presence globally and operates across time zones through 241 offices in 29 foreign countries.

 

Growing with times, SBI continues to redefine banking in India, as it aims to offer responsible and sustainable Banking solutions.

 

VISION

Be the Bank of Choice for a Transforming India

 

MISSION

Committed to Providing Simple, Responsive and Innovative Financial Solutions

 

VALUES

Service        Transparency        Ethics        Politeness         Sustainability

 

Evolution of SBI

The origin of the State Bank of India goes back to the first decade of the nineteenth century with the establishment of the Bank of Calcutta in Calcutta on 2 June 1806. Three years later the bank received its charter and was re-designed as the Bank of Bengal 2 January 1809. A unique institution, it was the first joint-stock bank of British India sponsored by the Government of Bengal.

 

The Bank of Bombay (15 April 1840) and the Bank of Madras (1 July 1843) followed the Bank of Bengal. These three banks remained at the apex of modern banking in India till their amalgamation as the Imperial Bank of India on 27 January 1921.

 

Primarily Anglo-Indian creations, the three presidency banks came into existence either as a result of the compulsions of imperial finance or by the felt needs of local European commerce and were not imposed from outside in an arbitrary manner to modernize India's economy. Their evolution was, however, shaped by ideas culled from similar developments in Europe and England, and was influenced by changes occurring in the structure of both the local trading environment and those in the relations of the Indian economy to the economy of Europe and the global economic framework.

 

Establishment

The establishment of the Bank of Bengal marked the advent of limited liability, joint-stock banking in India. So was the associated innovation in banking, viz. the decision to allow the Bank of Bengal to issue notes, which would be accepted for payment of public revenues within a restricted geographical area. This right of note issue was very valuable not only for the Bank of Bengal but also its two siblings, the Banks of Bombay and Madras. It meant an accretion to the capital of the banks, a capital on which the proprietors did not have to pay any interest.

 

The concept of deposit banking was also an innovation because the practice of accepting money for safekeeping (and in some cases, even investment on behalf of the clients) by the indigenous bankers had not spread as a general habit in most parts of India. But, for a long time, and especially up to the time that the three presidency banks had a right of note issue, bank notes and government balances made up the bulk of the investible resources of the banks.

 

The three banks were governed by royal charters, which were revised from time to time. Each charter provided for a share capital, four-fifth of which were privately subscribed and the rest owned by the provincial government. The members of the board of directors, which managed the affairs of each bank, were mostly proprietary directors representing the large European managing agency houses in India. The rest were government nominees, invariably civil servants, one of whom was elected as the president of the board.

 

Business

The business of the banks was initially confined to discounting of bills of exchange or other negotiable private securities, keeping cash accounts and receiving deposits and issuing and circulating cash notes. Loans were restricted to Rs. One lakh and the period of accommodation confined to three months only. The security for such loans was public securities, commonly called Company's Paper, bullion, treasure, plate, jewels, or goods 'not of a perishable nature' and no interest could be charged beyond a rate of twelve per cent. Loans against goods like opium, indigo, salt woolens, cotton, cotton piece goods, mule twist and silk goods were also granted but such finance by way of cash credits gained momentum only from the third decade of the nineteenth century.

 

All commodities, including tea, sugar and jute, which began to be financed later, were either pledged or hypothecated to the bank. Demand promissory notes were signed by the borrower in favor of the guarantor, which was in turn endorsed to the bank. Lending against shares of the banks or on the mortgage of houses, land or other real property was, however, forbidden.

 

Indians were the principal borrowers against deposit of Company's paper, while the business of discounts on private as well as salary bills was almost the exclusive monopoly of individuals Europeans and their partnership firms. But the main function of the three banks, as far as the government was concerned, was to help the latter raise loans from time to time and also provide a degree of stability to the prices of government securities.