This list of the oldest banks in India includes financial institutions that were founded in the 18th and 19th centuries. Listed are the forty oldest banks in India, which includes all financial institutions founded prior to 1850.
The oldest bank in India is The Madras Bank (1683), followed by the Bank of Bombay, founded in 1720, which is then followed by the Bank of Hindustan, founded in 1770.
The oldest bank still in operation is the State Bank of India, whose origins can be traced back to the Bank of Calcutta. It was founded in 1806, though the tenth to be founded. [1]
The below cities are frequently listed among the headquarters of the banks mentioned in the above table.
Rank | Name of city | Number of ancient banks headquartered |
---|---|---|
1 | Calcutta | 11 |
2 | London | 6 |
3 | Madras | 5 |
4 | Bombay | 4 |
5 | Agra | 3 |
A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the monetary base. Many central banks also have supervisory or regulatory powers to ensure the stability of commercial banks in their jurisdiction, to prevent bank runs, and in some cases also to enforce policies on financial consumer protection and against bank fraud, money laundering, or terrorism financing.
The Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of financial panics led to the desire for central control of the monetary system in order to alleviate financial crises. Over the years, events such as the Great Depression in the 1930s and the Great Recession during the 2000s have led to the expansion of the roles and responsibilities of the Federal Reserve System.
The Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. Owned by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, it is responsible for the control, issue and maintaining supply of the Indian rupee. It also manages the country's main payment systems and works to promote its economic development. Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (BRBNM) is a specialised division of RBI through which it prints and mints Indian currency notes (INR) in two of its currency printing presses located in Mysore and Salboni. The RBI, along with the Indian Banks' Association, established the National Payments Corporation of India to promote and regulate the payment and settlement systems in India. Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation was established by RBI as one of its specialized division for the purpose of providing insurance of deposits and guaranteeing of credit facilities to all Indian banks.
State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian multinational public sector bank and financial services statutory body headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. SBI is the 45th largest bank in the world by total assets and ranked 221st in the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's biggest corporations of 2020, being the only Indian bank on the list. It is a public sector bank and the largest bank in India with a 23% market share by assets and a 25% share of the total loan and deposits market. It is also the tenth largest employer in India with nearly 250,000 employees. In 2023, the company’s seat in Forbes Global 2000 was 77.
ICICI Bank Limited is an Indian multinational bank and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai with a registered office in Vadodara. It offers a wide range of banking and financial services for corporate and retail customers through various delivery channels and specialized subsidiaries in the areas of investment banking, life, non-life insurance, venture capital and asset management.
Modern banking in India originated in the mid of 18th century. Among the first banks were the Bank of Hindustan, which was established in 1770 and liquidated in 1829–32; and the General Bank of India, established in 1786 but failed in 1791.
The IDBI Bank Limited is a development finance institution under the ownership of Life Insurance Corporation of India and Government of India. It was established in 1964 as Industrial Development Bank of India, a development finance institution, which provided financial services to industrial sector. In 2005, the institution was merged with its commercial division, IDBI Bank, forming the present-day banking entity and was categorised as "other development finance institution" category. Later in March 2019, Government of India asked Life Insurance Corporation to infuse capital in the bank due to high NPA and capital adequacy issues and also asked LIC to manage the bank to meet the regulatory norms. IDBI was put under Prompt corrective action of the RBI and on 10 March 2021 IDBI came out of the PCA. At present direct and indirect shareholding of Government of India in IDBI Bank is approximately 95%, which Government of India (GoI) vide its communication F.No. 8/2/2019-BO-II dated December 17, 2019, has clarified and directed all Central/State Government departments to consider IDBI Bank for allocation of Government Business. Many national institutes find their roots in IDBI like SIDBI, EXIM, National Stock Exchange of India, SEBI, National Securities Depository Limited.
Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take deposits and lend money in most parts of the world.
The Bank of Calcutta was founded on 2 June 1806, mainly to fund General Arthur Wellesley's wars against Tipu Sultan and the Marathas. It was the tenth oldest bank in India and was renamed Bank of Bengal on 2 January 1809.
HDFC Bank Limited is an Indian banking and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai. It is India's largest private sector bank by assets and the world's tenth-largest bank by market capitalization as of May 2024. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has identified the HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, and ICICI Bank as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs), which are often referred to as banks that are “too big to fail”.
Axis Bank Limited, formerly known as UTI Bank (1993–2007), is an Indian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is India's third largest private sector bank by assets and fourth largest by market capitalisation. It sells financial services to large and mid-size companies, SMEs and retail businesses.
FirstRand Limited, also referred to as FirstRand Group is the holding company of FirstRand Bank, and is a financial services provider in South Africa. It is one of the financial services providers licensed by the Reserve Bank of South Africa, the national banking regulator.
Bandhan Bank Ltd. is a banking and financial services company, headquartered in Kolkata. Bandhan Bank is present in 35 out of 36 states and union territories of India, with 6,297 banking outlets and 3.36 crore customers. Having received the universal banking licence from the Reserve Bank of India, Bandhan Bank started operations on August 23, 2015, with 501 branches, 50 ATMs and 2,022 Banking Units (BUs). The Bank has mobilised deposits of ₹1,35,202 crore and its total advances stand at ₹1,24,721 crore as of March 31, 2024.
The Bank of Bombay was the second oldest bank in India after The Madras Bank (1683). It was started in 1720, and lasted until 1770.
The General Bank of Bengal and Bihar was a bank in British India that operated between 1773 and 1775.
The Union Bank was a bank founded in the year 1828 in British India by Prince Dwarkanath Tagore. The bank was the fourteenth oldest bank in India.
The Commercial Bank was a bank founded in the year 1819 in British India. The bank was the eleventh oldest bank in India.
The Calcutta Bank was a bank founded in the year 1824 in British India. The bank was the twelfth oldest bank in India.