Central Bank of India

Central Bank of India is one of the oldest commercial banks of India, and reportedly is the first trulyIndian bank which was totally owned and established by Indian without any foreign help.Sir Sorabji Pockhanawala was the founder of the bank, who had always dreamt of establishing athoroughly Indian bank, who was so happy and excited about the project that he reportedly termed theCentral Bank of India as property of the nation and the countrys asset. The first Chairman of the bankwas Sir Pherozesha Mehta, a yet another Indian enthusiast. In the year 1969 the bank was nationalizedby the Government of India.

Key Attributes

Central Bank of India claims to be the first bank to be conferred with the National Award for Excellencein Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) Lending for the year 2007-08.The bank entered a partnership with Kotak Mahindra Assets Management Company in December 2008,under which all the Kotak Mutual Fund products will be made available through Central Bank of Indiabranches.

Products and Services

Central Bank of India offers a host of banking services to its customers including Regular BankingServices such as Deposits and Loans, International Banking Services, and other services includingCentralcard Electronic Cards, Debit Cards, No-Frills Savings Deposit Account under the name Cent BachatKhata, and Finance options for domestic and international tours under the name Cent Safar.

Presence in India

Central Bank of India has a strong presence in the country with over 3000 branches and more than 250extension counters nationwide as of April 2009. The headquarters of the bank are located in Mumbai,the financial capital of India, along with 16 other zonal offices established in different cities of thenation, including Agra, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata,Lucknow, Mumbai Metro Zonal Office, Muzaffarpur, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna, Pune and Raipur.

Head Office

Central Bank of IndiaChander Mukhi, Narman PointMumbai  400 021

Website:

http://www.centralbankofindia.co.in

Banks in India

India has a well developed banking system. Most of the banks in India were founded by Indianentrepreneurs and visionaries in the pre-independence era to provide financial assistance to traders,agriculturists and budding Indian industrialists. The origin of banking in India can be traced back to thelast decades of the 18th century. The General Bank of India and the Bank of Hindustan, which started in1786 were the first banks in India. Both the banks are now defunct. The oldest bank in existence in Indiaat the moment is the State Bank of India. The State Bank of India came into existence in 1806. At thattime it was known as the Bank of Calcutta. SBI is presently the largest commercial bank in the country.The role of central banking in India is looked by the Reserve Bank of India, which in 1935 formally tookover these responsibilities from the then Imperial Bank of India. Reserve Bank was nationalized in 1947and was given broader powers. In 1969, 14 largest commercial banks were nationalized followed by sixnext largest in 1980. But with adoption of economic liberalization in 1991, private banking was againallowed.The commercial banking structure in India consists of: Scheduled Commercial Banks and UnscheduledBanks. Scheduled commercial Banks constitute those banks, which have been included in the SecondSchedule of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934. RBI includes only those banks in this schedule, whichsatisfy the criteria laid down vide section 42 (6) (a) of the Act.Indian banks can be broadly classified into public sector banks (those banks in which the Government of India holds a stake), private banks (government doe not have a stake in these banks; they may bepublicly listed and traded on stock exchanges) and foreign banks.

Bank Fixed Deposits

Bank Fixed Deposits are also known as Term Deposits. In a Fixed Deposit Account, a certain sum of money is deposited in the bank for a specified time period with a fixed rate of interest. The rate of interest for Bank Fixed Deposits depends on the maturity period. It is higher in case of longer maturityperiod. There is great flexibility in maturity period and it ranges from 15days to 5 years.

Current Account

Current Account is primarily meant for businessmen, firms, companies, public enterprises etc. that havenumerous daily banking transactions. Current Accounts are cheque operated accounts meant neither forthe purpose of earning interest nor for the purpose of savings but only for convenience of businesshence they are non-interest bearing accounts

Demat Account

Demat refers to a dematerialised account. Demat account is just like a bank account where actualmoney is replaced by shares. Just as a bank account is required if we want to save money or makecheque payments, we need to open a demat account in order to buy or sell shares.

Recurring Bank Deposits

Under a Recurring Deposit account (RD account), a specific amount is invested in bank on monthly basisfor a fixed rate of return. The deposit has a fixed tenure, at the end of which the principal sum as well asthe interest earned during that period is returned to the investor.

Reserve Bank of India

The Reserve Bank of India was established on April 1, 1935 in accordance with the provisions of theReserve Bank of India Act, 1934. Though initially RBI was privately owned, it was nationalized in 1949. Itscentral office is in Mumbai where the Governor of RBI sits.

Savings Bank Account

Savings Bank Accounts are meant to promote the habit of saving among the citizens while allowing themto use their funds when required. The main advantage of Savings Bank Account is its high liquidity andsafety.

Senior Citizen Saving Scheme 2004

The Senior Citizen Saving Scheme 2004 had been introduced by the Government of India for the benefitof senior citizens who have crossed the age of 60 years. However, under some circumstances the peopleabove 55 years of age are also eligible to enjoy the benefits of this scheme.

Foreign Banks in India

Foreign banks have brought latest technology and latest banking practices in India. They have helpedmade Indian Banking system more competitive and efficient. Government has come up with a road mapfor expansion of foreign banks in India.

Nationalised Banks

Nationalised banks dominate the banking system in India. The history of nationalised banks in Indiadates back to mid-20th century, when Imperial Bank of India was nationalised (under the SBI Act of 1955) and re-christened as State Bank of India (SBI) in July 1955.

Private Banks in India

Initially all the banks in India were private banks, which were founded in the pre-independence era tocater to the banking needs of the people. In 1921, three major banks i.e. Banks of Bengal, Bank of Bombay, and Bank of Madras, merged to form Imperial Bank of India. In 1935, the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) was established and it took over the central banking responsibilities from the Imperial Bank of