First of Banks: The Banking History of India

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First in Banking History of India
The following topic lists all the firsts in the banking history of India. This topic is primarily focused on the candidates who are preparing for various banking exams like IBPS PO/Clerk, RRB, Co-operative Bank exams, etc, as well as for those who are preparing for the various UPSC & PSC exams.

First Banks of India

  • First Bank in India – Bank of Hindustan (1770).
    • Second – The General Bank of India (1786).
  • First Foreign Bank in India – Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China (Calcutta, 1853).
  • First Private Bank in India – Nedungadi Bank (Calicut, Kerala, 1899).
    • Founder – Appu Nedungadi.
  • First Commercial Bank of India – Bank of Calcutta (Later renamed as SBI, 1806).
    • Headquarters – Mumbai.
    • First Bank to sell Mutual Funds – State Bank of India.
    • First Bank to introduced Multi-Currency International Debit Card – State Bank of India.
    • First Bank in India to launch its own Payment Aggregators – State Bank of India (SBI ePay).
  • First Co-operative Bank in India – Anyonya Co-operative Bank Limited (Baroda, Gujarat, 1889).
    • First Control Co-operative bank in India – Jabalpur Control Co-operative Bank.
  • First all Woman Bank in India – Bharatiya Mahila Bank (Mumbai, 2013).
  • First Small Finance Bank – Capital Small Finance Bank (Jalandhar, Punjab, 2015).
  • First Payments Bank in India – Airtel Payment Bank Ltd.
  • First Bank managed by Indians – Oudh Commercial Bank.
  • First Bank to Introduce Cheque system – Bengal Bank (1784).
  • First Bank with Indian Capital Investment – Punjab National Bank.
    • Founder – Lala Lajpat Rai.
    • Second Largest Public Sector Bank in India.
  • First Bank owned and operated by Indians – Central Bank of India.
    • Also known as Swadeshi Bank.
  • First Foreign Bank in India to launch 'green deposit' – HSBC.
  • First Bank to get Online Banking Facility in India – HDFC.
  • First Bank to get ISO certificate – Canara Bank.
  • First Indian Bank outside India – Bank of India (London, 1946).
  • First Bank to introduced Debit Card in India – Citi Bank.
    • First to introduce ATMs to the world.
  • First Bank to introduce ATM – HSBC (Mumbai, 1987).
  • First Bank in India to launch Talking ATMs for differently ­able person – Union Bank of India.
    • Bank inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1919.
    • First Bank to introduce the facility to pay the income tax by using its ATM.
  • First Bank to have Joint Stock Public Bank (Oldest) – Allahabad Bank.
  • First Universal Bank – ICICI (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India).
    • Formed on – 1955.
    • First Bank to provide mobile ATM – ICICI.
    • First Bank to give Internet Banking Facility – ICICI.
    • First Bank to introduce BlockChain technology – ICICI.
    • First Bank to launch EMI Facility on Debit Card – ICICI.
    • First Bank in India to be listed in New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) – ICICI.
    • The biggest Private Commercial Bank in India – ICICI.
  • First Bank to introduce Savings Account – Presidency Bank (1833).
  • First Computerized Bank in India – Bank of India.
  • First Digital Bank – Digibank.
  • First Bank to issue Credit Cards – Central Bank of India.
  • First Rural Regional Bank (Grameen Bank) – Prathama Bank (sponsored by Syndicate Bank).
  • First Bank to get ‘in principle’ Banking license – IDFC &  Bandhan Bank.
  • First Bank to introduce Merchant Banking in India – Grind lays Bank.
  • First Bank to introduce Voice Biometric – Citibank.
  • First Bank to introduce Robot in Banking Services – City Union Bank (2016).
    • India’s First Banking robot named – Lakshmi.
  • First Humanoid in India's Banking was introduced by – HDFC (2017).
  • First Bank in India to issue Electronic Passbook – Federal Bank (FedBook, 2013).
For More PSC Questions on Banking & Finance, Click Here

📝SideNotes:

  • Plastic Money – Credit Card.
  • Reserve Bank of India was instituted in – 1935.
    • First Governor – Osborne Smith.
    • First Indian Governor – CD Deshmukh.
  • Oldest Bank – State Bank of India.
    • Formed in – 1921 (as imperial Bank).
    • Largest public sector bank in India – State Bank of India.
    • Bank with more branches in India – State Bank of India.
    • First exclusive gold banking outlet of SBI is – Sona Ghar, Hyderabad.
    • The Bank that holds the second position for maximum branches – State Bank of India.
    • SBI associate banks were nationalized on – 1959.
    • In 1955, Imperial Bank of India was nationalized and renamed as – State Bank of India.
  • Oldest existing Public Sector Bank in India – Allahabad Bank.
  • Nationalization of Banks took place in – July 19, 1969.
    • Total no. of Nationalized Banks in India – 12*.
  • The first bank in Kerala is – Nedungadi Bank.
  • First bank in Kerala to implement CORE banking system – South Indian Bank.
  • First Insurance Company in India – Oriental Life Insurance Company (1818).
  • National Housing Bank (NHB) was formed in the year – 1988. 
  • National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development  – 1982.
  • Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) was formed in – 1990 (Headquarters: Lucknow).
  • Industrial Development Bank  was established in – 1964.
  • Largest Private Sector Bank in India – HDFC Bank.**
  • Largest Foreign Bank in India – Standard Chartered Bank.
  • Bank with a maximum no. of overseas branches – Bank of Baroda.
  • First Financial Archive in India was set up in – Kolkata.
  • Export-Import Bank of India was set up in 1982 as a wholly-owned undertaking of the – Government of India.
** updated according to current statistics.

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