State Bank of Travancore

Foundation

SBT was established in 1945 as the Travancore Bank Ltd., at the initiative of Travancore Diwan C. P. Ramaswami Iyer. Following popular resentment against his dictatorial rule, the bank never credited his role. Instead, the Bank considered the Maharaja of Travancore Sri Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma as the founder, though the king had little to do with the founding. Although the Travancore government put up only 25% of the capital, the bank undertook government treasury work and foreign exchange business, apart from its general banking business. Its head office was at Thiruvananthapuram. In 1960, it became a subsidiary of State Bank of India under the SBI Subsidiary Banks Act, 1959, enacted by the Parliament of India., and thus achieved the name 'State Bank of Travancore'.

Merger

On 15 February 2017, the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to merge SBT and four other associate banks with State Bank of India. It was merged with its parent bank on 31 March 2017.

Between 1959 and 1965, SBT acquired numerous small, private banks in Kerala.

1959: SBT acquired the assets and liabilities of Indo-Mercantile Bank, which Sri Popatlal Goverdhan Lalan had helped found in Kochi in 1937.

1961: SBT acquired Travancore Forward Bank (est. 1929), Kottayam Orient Bank (est. 1926), and Bank of New India (est. 1944) after the Reserve Bank of India put the banks under moratorium.

1963: SBT acquired Vasudeva Vilasam Bank (est. 1930).