Saraswat Bank

Saraswat Bankpronunciation  is an urban co-operative banking institution based in Maharashtra, India and operating as a co-operative society since 1918.[2] The Founding Members of the society were J. K. Parulkar as Chairman, N. B. Thakur as Vice-chairman, P. N. Warde as Secretary, and Shivram Gopal Rajadhyaksha as Treasurer.[3]

Saraswat Bank
TypeMulti-State Co-operative Bank
IndustryFinancial services
Founded14 September 1918 (1918-09-14)
HeadquartersSaraswat Co-operative Bank Ltd,
Ekanath Thakur Bhawan 953,
Appasaheb Marathe Marg,
Prabhadevi. Mumbai- 400 025
Key people
Revenue₹33,760.2 million (US$470 million) (2017-18)[1]
₹2,406.8 million (US$34 million) (2017-18)[1]
Number of employees
4,061 (as of March 2018)[1]
WebsiteOfficial website

In 1988, the bank was conferred with the Scheduled status by the Reserve Bank of India. It is the first co-operative bank to provide merchant banking services. The bank got a permanent license to deal in foreign exchange in 1979. Presently, the bank has a correspondent relationship in 58 countries covering nine currencies with over 162 banks.

The bank's total business which was around ₹4,000 crore in 2000 almost quadrupled to ₹15,295 crore in 2007.

In the year 2008, the bank launched a branding initiative to reconfirm the thrust of the bank on its core values, which can be summed up as a "sense of belonging".

In the last two decades, the bank has witnessed a steady growth in business and also taken several strategic business initiatives such as undertaking business process reengineering initiative, merging seven cooperative banks and then consciously nurturing them. The bank tied up with VISA International for issuance of debit cards. The bank has also successfully launched the RuPay EMV Debit Card in 2013–14. The bank was the first to achieve this milestone in respect of RuPay EMV card along with the Bank of Baroda.

In 2011, the bank was granted permission for All India Area of Operation by the Reserve Bank of India. The bank has an ambitious business expansion plan in place to have a presence in all major cities of the country and is well poised to double total business to ₹1 lakh crore over the next few years.

The bank has a network of 281 fully computerized branches as on 31 March 2018 covering six states viz. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa and Delhi. The bank provides 24-hour service through ATMs at 260 locations. In 2018, the bank also introduced their Bank on WhatsApp facility to help customers receive updates and avail various banking services via the chat platform. [4] [5]

As of 31 March 2018, the bank's business had surpassed ₹58,526 crores .[6] It received The Best Cooperative Bank Award in 2016.[7] and ranked second-best bank in India by The World's Best Banks 2020 survey[8][9] conducted by the Forbes, an American business magazine.

References
  1. "Annual Report 2017-18" (PDF). Saraswat Bank.
  2. "India's leading co-operative bank". Saraswat Bank. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  3. https://www.freepressjournal.in/business/saraswat-bank-achieves-its-target-of-50000-cr/829108
  4. https://www.zeebiz.com/personal-finance/news-whatsapp-is-your-new-bank-kotak-mahindra-saraswat-co-operative-bank-move-to-chat-app-heres-all-you-can-do-74922
  5. https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/kotak-mahindra-saraswat-bank-launch-services-on-whatsapp-3266811.html
  6. http://www.indiancooperative.com/banks/100th-agm-saraswat-bank-earns-highest-ever-profit-enters-fortune-500/
  8. https://www.forbes.com/worlds-best-banks/#56aeae4f1295
  9. https://www.indiancooperative.com/banks/forbes-survey-saraswat-bank-beats-hdfc-sbi-to-emerge-ahead/
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