About the Bank:

On 2 June 1806, the earliest progenitor of the State Bank of India, the Bank of Calcutta, set up by the English East India Company opened for business. After a brief period of infancy, the Bank was given a charter and renamed as the Bank of Bengal. The Bank of Bombay on 15 April 1840 and the Bank of Madras on 1 July 1843 followed soon after. Initially operating as unit banks, they took to branch banking in 1862. Soon branches emerged at the major ports and inland trade centres of the subcontinent. On 27 January 1921, the three banks were merged to form the Imperial Bank of India, an all India bank. On 1 July 1955, as the premier commercial bank in the country, the Imperial Bank was nationalized to create the State Bank of India. With the passing of the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act in 1959, eight former state-associated banks became its subsidiaries.

In two centuries, the unit bank had blossomed into the largest commercial bank of the country, transcending all geographical limits, spreading across timezones, and pioneering every banking innovation! The State Bank of India, along with its five associate banks today, constitute the largest banking network in the country, with over a hundred million customers and their trust.

About the Archive & Museum:

The State Bank Archives & Museum opened on 13 May 2007, is a treasure trove that holds in its custody the rich documentary heritage as well as numerous related relics and memorabilia that have a direct scent of this great institution in its long and enduring legacy. It has three distinct wings: one the precious holdings of the Bank for the benefit of scholars and research; two, a rapidly growing collection of rare books and journals of the 19th and 20th centuries and three, a display of the rich legacy of the Bank. Together it captures the genesis, growth, and fulfilment of this banking odyssey. It focuses on the transition of the Bank through the phases with the aid of original records and objects of historical interest.