How State Bank of India became one of the largest Banks in the World? - SBI Success Story

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Ever thought, if there were no banks how would the economy of the country develop? Banks have existed as old as any civilization and in different forms. The banking sector undoubtedly plays a very key in shaping the economy of our country.

Banking sectors over the years have bought various changes in the monetary policies to technological advancements. Right from the pre-independence phase during the 1770s to liberalization during the 1990s, this sector has come a long way.

State Bank of India is the world's 43rd largest banking sector, and ranked as 221st Fortune Global 500 list of the world's biggest corporations of 2020, is the only Indian bank to make the list. Commonly called SBI by many fellow Indians, the State Bank of India is an Indian Multinational, Public Sector Banking and Financial services statutory body.

In this article, learn all about State Bank Of India, how it started, its growth, business and revenue, competitors, the challenges faced, and much more.

State Bank of India - Company Highlights

State Bank of India - About
State Bank of India - Industry
State Bank of India - Key People
State Bank of India - Startup Story
State Bank of India - Mission and Vision
State Bank of India - Name, Logo, and Tagline
State Bank of India - Business Model
State Bank of India - Revenue Growth
State Bank of India - Employees
State Bank of India - Challenges Faced
State Bank of India - Investments
State Bank of India - Shareholdings
State Bank of India - Mergers, and Acquisitions
State Bank of India - Online and Social Media Presence
State Bank of India - Advertisement and Social Media Campaigns
State Bank of India - Awards
State Bank of India - Competitors

State Bank of India - About

State Bank of India has a 23% market share by assets and a 25% share of the entire loan and deposit market. It is a public sector bank and the biggest bank in India, with approximately 250,000 workers. It is also India's fifth-largest employer.

With a quarter of the market share, it serves over 45 crore customers through a vast network of over 22,000 branches, 62617 ATMs or ADWMs, and 71,968 branch outlets. The bank's core values of service, transparency, ethics, politeness and sustainability drive its unwavering focus on innovation and customer-centricity.

Through its several subsidiaries, including SBI General Insurance, SBI Life Insurance, SBI Mutual Fund, SBI Card and Payment Services, etc., the Bank has successfully diversified its commercial operations. It has a widespread presence around the world and employs 229 offices in 31 different foreign nations to function across time zones.

SBI is the earliest commercial bank in the Indian Subcontinent and came from the Bank of Calcutta, incorporated in 1806 through the Imperial Bank of India. The Bank of Madras merged with the Bank of Calcutta and the Bank of Bombay, the other two presidential banks in British India, to form the Imperial Bank of India, which later changed its name to the State Bank of India in 1955. Throughout its 200-year history, the bank has been primarily formed through the acquisition and merger of over twenty banks. In 1955, the Indian government took over the Imperial Bank of India, rebranding it State Bank of India and granting the Reserve Bank of India (India's central bank) a 60% shareholding.

State Bank of India - Industry

In today's times, it is recorded that the Indian Banking system consists of around 22 private sector banks, 12 public sectors, 56 regional rural banks, 46 foreign banks with 1485 urban cooperative banks, and 96,000 rural cooperative banks.

Many banks' credit grew at a CAGR of 0.29 percent between FY16 and FY21. Total credit extended as of FY21 increased to US$ 1,487.60 billion. Deposits increased at a CAGR of 12.38 percent between FY16 and FY21, reaching US$ 2.06 trillion by FY21. As of May 20, 2022, bank deposits totaled Rs. 165.74 trillion.

State Bank of India - Key People

State Bank of India is a public sector bank, which is directed under Dinesh Kumar Khara, who is the Chairman of the bank.

Dinesh Kumar Khara

Dinesh Kumar Khara is the Chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI). He started in 1984 by joining SBI as a Probationary Officer. He has held a number of important roles, including that of Chief General Manager - Bhopal Circle, MD (Global Banking & Subsidiaries), MD (Associates & Subsidiaries), and MD & CEO (SBI Mutual Funds).

Dinesh Kumar Khara has an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies in New Delhi and a postgraduate degree in commerce from the Delhi School of Economics. He is also an Indian Institute of Bankers Certified Associate (CAIIB). Alongside extensive roles, he has also carried out the merger of SBI and Bhartiya Mahila Bank with its five subsidiary banks. At various times, he also served as the bank's head of risk, information technology, and compliance.

State Bank of India - Startup Story

If we talk about the startup story of SBI, then it goes back to the 19th century. The evolution of the bank started when the Bank of Calcutta, subsequently known as the Bank of Bengal, was founded in 1806. The Bank of Bengal and the Bank of Bombay, both of which were established in 1840, were the other two Presidency banks (incorporated after three years). Royal charters led to the formation of all three Presidency banks as joint stock companies. Prior to 1861, when the Paper Currency Act gave the Indian government control of the privilege, these three banks had the only authority to print money. On January 27, 1921, the Presidency banks merged, and the newly formed banking organization adopted the name Imperial Bank of India. Even without government support, the Imperial Bank of India remained a joint-stock business.

The Reserve Bank of India, the country's central bank, obtained a majority stake in the Imperial Bank of India in conformity with the provisions of the State Bank of India Act of 1955. The Imperial Bank of India changed its name to the State Bank of India on July 1st, 1955. Since the Reserve Bank of India regulates the nation's banking industry, the Government of India purchased the RBI's holding in SBI in 2008 to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.

State Bank of India - Mission and Vision

State Bank of India Vision says, "Be the Bank of Choice For A Transforming India"

State Bank of India's mission is, "Committed to Providing Simple, Responsive and Innovative Financial Solutions"

The bank also has five values upon which it serves its customers. The values are; Service, Transparency, Ethics, Politeness, and Sustainability.

State Bank of India - Name, Logo, and Tagline

The State Bank of India has multiple taglines. Some of the popular taglines of SBI are:

• “PURE BANKING, NOTHING ELSE”
• WITH YOU – ALL THE WAY”
• “THE BANKER TO EVERY INDIAN”
• “A BANK OF THE COMMON MAN”
• "THE NATION BANKS ON US"

The logo of SBI can be seen as a blue circle with a cut that is white in color depicting the shape of a common man, which is the bank's main motto for doing business. The logo was designed in 1971 by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

State Bank of India - Business Model

The business model of the State Bank of India is based on a wide variety of business models. Treasury, Corporate or Wholesale Banking, Retail Banking, and Other Banking businesses are the four business elements in which the bank works.

Besides providing services to its customers, SBI is also engaged in providing financial services through its multiple subsidiaries including, mutual funds, credit cards, life insurance, merchant banking, security trading, pension fund management, and primary dealership. The subsidiaries of SBI are as follows:

• SBI Life Insurance Ltd.
• SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd.
• SBI General Insurance
• Jio Payments Bank
• Andhra Pradesh Grameena
• Vikas Bank
• Kaveri Grameena Bank

The reach of SBI doesn't end here. The bank serves its services worldwide. It has its business spread with 57 zonal offices across significant cities in India, along with 16 regional centers.

It has 22,219 Branches with 62,617 ATMs in India, and in International, it has 229 Branches in 31 countries. The main target audience of SBI overseas is the NRIs. It has branches in countries like London, Colombo, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Frankfurt, Osaka, Dhaka, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, Bhutan, Singapore, and Tokyo.

The Key Services & Products of SBI are:

1. Smart Cards Products

• VISA Foreign Travel Card
• MasterCard Foreign Travel Card
• Gift Card
• Smart Pay-out Card
• State Bank Virtual Card
• State Bank Achiever Card
• State Bank eZ Pay Card

2. Transfer or Payment Services

• Funds Transfer
• Intra-Bank Transfer
• RTGS/NEFT
• Credit Card (Visa)
• IMPS Payments (Immediate Payment Service)
• NRI eZ Trade Funds Transfer

3. E- Deposits Services

• SBI Flexi Deposit
• TDR/e-STDR
• TDR/e-STDR under income tax savings scheme
• Annunity Deposit Scheme
• Recurring Deposits

4. Loans Against Shares

5. Other Services

• YONO stands as You Only Need One - an integrated digital banking platform launched by SBI in 2017. It allows users to gain access to a number of banking services as well as other services like online shopping, paying medical bills, movie ticket booking, travel planning, and booking flights, trains, buses, and taxis. Both Android and iOS users can download the YONO app to their smartphones. The app was developed by IBM. The cost of the development of the app is anticipated somewhere around Rs 4,000 crores. Additionally, YONO provides standard mobile banking services like loans, financial transfers, cashless bill payments, and bank account opening. The highlight of using YONO is that you can withdraw money from an ATM using the smartphone app without using an ATM card.

State Bank of India - Revenue Growth

SBI earns its money through its various products and services. But, to say in a precise manner, SBI generates its revenue mainly through interest payment services from its customers.

As of 2022, the revenue of SBI is Rs 406,973 crores with a net income of Rs 43,774 crores. The operating income of SBI stands at Rs 78,898 crores.

State Bank of India - Employees

According to sources, SBI had 245,652 employees, ranking it one of the largest employers in the world in 2021. The representation of female employees in the workforce is close to 26%.

In the same year, there were 44.28% of officers, 41.03% of associates, and 14.69% of subordinate employees, respectively. During FY 2020–21, each employee contributed a net profit of Rs 828,350 (US$10,000).

State Bank of India - Challenges Faced

The outbreak of Covid in 2020 had a crucial impact on SBI. It was the time when the overall economy had shrunk affecting many households and businesses. During that time, the corporate sector, which makes up the majority of the bank's clients, was already using liquidity management to reduce costs and outperform CAPEX.

The previous Chairperson of the State Bank of India, Rajnish Kumar had shared, "FY21 will be challenging as the full impact of the Covid-19 outbreak will be felt in this financial year. For instance, likely job cuts and salary reductions will have a relatively low level of stress on account of a higher proportion of Govt/ Quasi-Govt sector customers (in SBI’s loan portfolio). As of now, only 21.8% of the customers have availed the benefit of a moratorium."

State Bank of India - Investments

State Bank of India has made 21 investments so far. Their most recent investment was on 5 July 2022, when Rivulis Irrigation raised $250 million. Some of the recent investments made by SBI are listed below.

State Bank of India - Shareholdings

The government of India owned about 61.23 % of the equity shares in SBI as of March 31, 2017. With 8.82% of the company's shares, the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India is the largest non-promoter shareholder.

The equity shares of SBI are traded on the National Stock Exchange of India and the Bombay Stock Exchange, where they are included in the CNX Nifty and the BSE SENSEX index, respectively. The London Stock Exchange has Global Depository Receipts (GDRs).

State Bank of India - Mergers, and Acquisitions

SBI has acquired seven banks in 1960 by prefixing them with 'State Bank of.' These were the seven regional banks of the former princely states of India. These are;

1. State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ)
2. State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH)
3. State Bank of Indore (SBN)
4. State Bank of Mysore (SBM)
5. State Bank of Patiala (SBP)
6. State Bank of Saurashtra (SBS)
7. State Bank of Travancore (SBT)

SBS merged with SBI in September of the same year with plans to combine the partner banks into a single, and the extremely large bank was initiated in 2008. State Bank of Indore (SBN) also merged the very following year.

The State Bank of Bank has made five mergers since 2017, which is the largest merger in the history of the Indian Banking Industry.

The banks with which SBI has merged are:

1. State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ)
2. State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH)
3. State Bank of Mysore(SBM)
4. State Bank of Patiala(SBP)
5. State Bank of Travancore(SBT)
6. Bharatiya Mahila Bank

State Bank of India - Online and Social Media Presence

It is amusing to know what makes SBI the largest bank in the country. The bank clearly knows how to target its target audience through various social media platforms. Here's the number of followers the bank has on different social media channels:

1. LinkedIn - 2,413,368 followers
2. Facebook - 17,891,102 followers
3. Pinterest - 8.1 thousand followers
4. Twitter - 4.4 million followers
5. Instagram - 2.1 million followers
6. YouTube - 415K subscribers

State Bank of India - Advertisement and Social Media Campaigns

In 2021, SBI started a campaign on social media #KindnessIsCool campaign. It was Kreativ Street, an integrated marketing firm with offices in Gurgaon, who created the campaign. "Why isn't there enough kindness on the internet?" was the question that the campaign set out to answer. The main objective was to make an effort to address the negativity and trolling that are common on social media sites. The impact of the ad was that 9.8 million people saw the advertisement as a whole throughout the Twitter-first campaign across Promoted Trend Spotlight and Promoted Tweets.

The campaign garnered 232K engagements and 15 million impressions across timelines. According to the survey by Twitter, it was found that brand awareness increased by 18%, favorability by 12%, and ad recall by 20%. Additionally, compared to two weeks prior to the campaign, positive opinions about SBI increased by 92% during the campaign period.

State Bank of India - Awards

The giant, SBI has won many accolades. Here's taking you to the list of awards received by SBI:

• ICONIC BRAND OF INDIA 2021 BY THE ECONOMIC TIMES.
• OUTSTANDING PSU OF THE YEAR (2021) AT 11Th MANAGING INDIA AWARDS BY ALL INDIA MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION.
• Brandon Hall Awards, Excellence in Learning 2020 for “Nayi Disha
• Technology Excellence Award 2020 for e-RBC
• Brandon Hall Awards, 2020 for Learning initiatives benefitting 2 lakh Employees
• State Bank Bhavan was awarded the Performance Challenge Award 2020 by Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).
• Gold winner for Digital marketing Excellence in Content Marketing (Banking)
• Gold winner for Digital Marketing Excellence in Video (Banking)
• “Most Innovative Project” category for CHAPDEX (Customer Happiness Index) (2020)
• Winner of the “Best Financial Inclusion Initiatives” category (2020)

State Bank of India - Competitors

Some of the major competitors of SBI are:

1. HDFC
2. ICICI Bank
3. Bank Of India
4. Bank of Baroda
5. Canara Bank
6. Punjab National Bank
7. Union Bank
8. Central Bank
9. Indian Bank
10. UCO Bank

FAQs

When was SBI founded?

On 1st July 1955, the State Bank of India was founded.

Who is the current Chairman of SBI?

Dinesh Kumar Khara became the 26th Chairman of SBI in 2020.

Is SBI a government bank or private?

State Bank of India is a multinational public sector bank headquartered in Mumbai, India.

Is YONO owned by SBI?

Yes. YONO is the digital banking platform offered by the State Bank of India.