The story
The Central Bank of India was established on 21 December 1911 by Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala with Sir Pherozeshah Mehta as chairman, and it was the first commercial Indian bank completely owned, operated and managed by Indians.
Early-20th century
By 1918, the Central Bank of India had established a branch in Hyderabad. A branch in nearby Secunderabad followed in 1925.
In 1923, it acquired the Tata Industrial Bank in the wake of the failure of the Alliance Bank of Simla. The Tata Bank, established in 1917, had opened a branch in Madras in 1920 that became the Central Bank of India, Madras.
The Central Bank of India was instrumental in the creation of the first Indian exchange bank, the Central Exchange Bank of India, which opened in London in 1936. However, Barclays Bank acquired Central Exchange Bank of India in 1938.
Also, before World War II, the Central Bank of India established a branch in Rangoon. The branch's operations concentrated on business between Burma and India, especially money transfers conducted via telegraph. Profits were derived primarily from the margins on foreign exchange. The bank also provided loans accepting assets such as land, produce or other goods as collateral. Most of the banks customers were Indian businesses.
Post-World War II
In 1963, the revolutionary government in Burma nationalized the Central Bank of India's operations there, which became People's Bank No. 1.
In 1969, the Indian Government nationalized the bank on 19 July, together with 13 others.
Central Bank of India was one of the first banks in India to issue credit cards in the year 1980 in collaboration with Visa.
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On its 108th Foundation Day, the Central Bank of India launched its first step towards robotic banking, a robot named "MEDHA".
CBI is one of twelve public sector banks in India that were recapitalised in 2009.
As of 31 March 2021, the bank has a network of 4,608 branches, 3,644 ATMs, ten satellite offices, and one extension counter. It has a pan-India presence covering all 28 states, seven out of eight union territories, and 574 district headquarters out of all districts in the country.
RBI's prompt corrective action (PCA) came out last in the public sector in 2022. The PCA framework blocked large loans, restricted dividend payments, and restricted expenses.
In 2024, Central Bank of India Governor MV Rao became chairman of the Indian Banks Association.
From Wikipedia’s article on Central Bank of India, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4