State Bank of India (SBI) is one of India’s biggest state-owned financial institutions. The bank is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Apart from being one of the biggest, SBI is also one of India’s oldest commercial banks in the country.  SBI has a rich history that can be traced back over two hundred years during the time of the British Raj. The story of SBI began with the erstwhile Bank of Calcutta which had been set up all the way back in 1806. Decades later in the 1840s, two more similar banks - the Bank of Madras and the Bank of Bombay - were also set up. The three banks together were also known as the Presidency Banks. However, in 1921, as per government directions, the Bank of Madras, the Bank of Bombay and the Bank of Calcutta were all amalgamated to establish the Imperial Bank of India. Eight years after India got its independence from the British, the Indian government passed the State Bank of India Act of 1955. In July of that year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) got its hands on the Imperial Bank of India. In the same year, the Imperial Bank of India was rechristened as the State Bank of India and SBI as its known today came into being. The bank would continue to grow over the next four decades as it acquired several regional banks. 1993 was significant for SBI as it launched its Initial Public Offer (IPO) in that year. 2008 was another important year for SBI as the Indian government took control of RBI’s stake in SBI. In the same year, SBI initiated a plan to merge all its associate banks with itself to become one single large bank. 2017 was another big year for SBI as it underwent the largest consolidation exercise in the history of Indian banking. Several associate banks such as State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Travancore (SBT), State Bank of Patiala (SBP), State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) and Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) were amalgamated with the SBI. In 2020, SBI acquired a 48 per cent stake in the financially unstable YES Bank. As of March 2023, SBI serves over 45 crore customers through its vast network of over 22,000 branches, 62617 ATMs/ADWMs and 71,968 BC (business correspondent) outlets. SBI operates globally across time zones through 229 offices in 31 foreign countries.

Products and services 

Being one of the largest banking institutions in India, SBI is capable of providing multiple banking services and products. Saving accounts, current accounts, debit cards, credit cards and loans are some of the banking products offered by SBI. SBI’s customer base includes not just individuals but businesses of all sizes, institutional customers etc. SBI also provides a whole host of corporate banking services. Recently, SBI has introduced a bunch of new innovative digital products such as the YONO App. This app helps customers in accessing multiple banking and lifestyle services with ease through their smartphones. Payment and collection of taxes, pension payments and utility bill payments are some of the government-related transitions that SBI facilitates. SBI also operates multiple subsidiaries such as SBI General Insurance, SBI Life Insurance, SBI Mutual Fund, SBI Card, etc.

Listing 

SBI is listed on BSE, NSE, Madras Stock Exchange, Calcutta Stock Exchange etc. SBI is a part of multiple indices like Nifty 50, Nifty 500, S&P BSE Sensex 50 etc.