One of the oldest banks in South India, The South Indian Bank (SIB) came into being during the Swadeshi movement. The South Indian Bank Limited was incorporated on 29 January 1929 at Thrissur as a pri
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vate limited company and was later converted into a public limited company on 11 August 1939. SIB was set up by a group of enterprising men who joined together at Thrissur to provide the people a safe, efficient and service oriented repository of savings of the community on one hand and to free the business community from the clutches of greedy moneylenders on the other by providing need based credit at reasonable rates of interest. SIB provides retail and corporate banking, Para banking activities such as debit card, third party product distribution, in addition to Treasury and Foreign Exchange Business. As on 31 December 2020, the Bank had a network of 877 Branches and 1443 ATMs across the country.
The first branch outside Kerala was opened by the bank in Coimbatore during the year 1941. SIB, the first among the private sector banks in Kerala to become a scheduled bank in 1946 under the RBI Act. During the year 1963, the bank took over the assets and liabilities of Kshemavilasam Banking Company Ltd and the Ambat Bank Pvt Ltd, Chittur, Kerala. The year 1964 was notable one in the saga of SIB; the bank had acquired ten banks in the single year of 1964 itself, the list of banks include Public Bank Ltd, Suburban Bank Pvt Ltd, Vijalakshmi Bank Pvt Ltd, Chalakudy Bank Ltd, Mukkattukara Catholic Bank Ltd, Assyrian Charities Banking Company Ltd, The Catholic Syrian Christian Bank Ltd, Malabar Bank Ltd, Bharata Union Bank Ltd and Kozhuvanal Bank Ltd. SIB made its entry into merchant banking activities by supporting/underwriting 99 new issues in the year 1990.
A Currency Chest activity of the bank on behalf of the RBI was started to execute in April of the year 1992. Also during the same year of 1992, SIB unlocked a NRI branch in November and developed an in-house, a fully integrated branch automation software in addition to the in-house partial automation solution operational. During the year 1993, the bank started an Industrial Finance Branch in the month of March and opened an 'Overseas Branch' to cater exclusively to the export and import business in June of the same year 1993. Initial Public Offering of the bank was made and went to public in the year 1998. The Sibertech (Technology Promotion Drive of South Indian Bank) project, a comprehensive and centralized banking solution was launched by the bank in 2001 and also SIB entered into alliance with three exchange houses in the Gulf during the identical year of 2001.
A tie-up was made by the bank with insurance player in the year 2002 for the distribution of the products of the insurance company. The Internet banking facility, namely Sibernet was introduced by the bank to its customers in the year 2003 and also made an agreement with Master Card International to launch Maestro, the Global ATM/Debit Card. During the year 2004, the bank had celebrated 75 years of its existence. The Follow on Public Offering of the company was made in the year 2005. The Bank won a special award for excellence in Banking Technology from IDRBT (Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology) in September of the year 2006.
In financial year 2006, SIB opened 21 new branches (including up gradation of 15 extension counters) and 11 new extension counters. To spread out the ATM reach, the bank has tied up with Master Card Inc for Global debit and ATM card operations.
During FY2006, the Bank came out with a Follow - on Public Offer of 2,27,27,272 equity shares of Rs. 10/- each at a premium of Rs.56/- per share aggregating to Rs.150 crores through Book-Building route taking the issued capital of the Bank to Rs.70.41 crores. The issue opened on 10th February and closed for subscription on 15th February 2006.
ICICI Bank Ltd., a strategic investor in the bank, who was holding 4722786 shares representing 6.71% of the paid up capital in the Bank in the beginning of March 2006, made an exit from the Bank by divesting its entire shareholding in March 2006.
In FY2006, the bank launched net banking as well as SMS based mobile banking enabling its customers to conduct cheaper and quicker mode of banking activities.
The bank has achieved 100% Core Banking Solutions by 24th March of the year 2007. Further to strengthen the ATM reach and global acceptability Bank has introduced Master Card Global Debit- cum- ATM card, which can be used at ATMs and merchandise all over the world. SIB has emerged as the Best Performer in Asset Quality category in Analyst 2008 Survey of Indian Banks among private sector banks which include both the new generation and the traditional banks in India.
During FY 2014, SIB opened 54 new branches and 200 ATMs across the country. The Bank has been successful in widening its presence pan India with 794 branches and 9 service branches. The branch network now covers 29 states / union territories and has a network of 1000 ATMs.
The Internet banking service under the brand name 'SIBerNet' has helped to position the Bank as a technology-driven bank offering superior services to both retail and corporate customers. Fund Transfer (RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) / NEFT (National Electronic Fund Transfer), online bill payments, donations to temples etc., are a few of the services offered through SIBerNet. In addition to these, the bank has also introduced Direct and Indirect Tax Payment facility for its retail and corporate Customers during FY2014. In FY2014, the bank launched new Banking channel, viz., Kiosk Banking Model. Kiosk Banking Model is a new channel of banking model in which the basic banking services are delivered at customer end. Kiosk Centres offer basic banking services to potential customers like Customer enrolment, Deposits, Withdrawal, Fund transfers, Balance enquiry, FD, RD remittance etc. Customers can open new Basic Savings Account in the Kiosk Centre by providing KYC documents and biometrics. They can do banking transactions without a cheque leaf or ATM card.
In FY2014, the bank tied up with M/s. CSC e-Governance India Ltd. to provide Kiosk Banking services to customers. Initially the bank has implemented Kiosk Banking Model in the state of Kerala through Akshaya centres, who are acting as Common Service Centres in the state.
In FY 2016, the bank has entered into tie up with leading aggregator M/s. Billdesk Services for Centralized Direct Debit arrangement. Through this tie up, the bank's customers will be able to make regular payments like monthly/quarterly/ half yearly payments of Mutual Fund SIP Investments/Loan EMIs (vehicle/equipment loans)/ Insurance premium, etc. by directly debiting their account and thereby making payments to various billers/institutions. Besides, the bank has similar arrangements with 3 companies- TVS Credit Services, Sundaram Finance Ltd and Shriram City Union Finance.
SIB opened 26 new offices (16 branches and 10 extension counters) and 51 ATMs and 14 CRMs (Cash Recycler Machines) across the country during the financial year 2016-17. The branch network now covers 30 States/Union Territories.
During FY 2017, SIB successfully raised capital by way of issue of 45.07 crore Equity Shares of face value of Re.1/- each for cash at a price of Rs 14/- per Equity Share (including a premium of Rs 13/- per Equity Share) aggregating to Rs 630.99 crores to the eligible equity shareholders of the bank on rights basis in the ratio of one equity share for every three equity shares held.
During FY17, the bank launched the Reloadable Prepaid Cards, which can be used for Point of Sales (POS), Online as well as for ATM Transactions. These cards can be reloaded any number of times as per the choice of the customer. In addition, it launched the credit cards in association with one of the major players in Indian Credit Card industry, M/s SBI cards co-branded credit cards. The bank can offer the SIB-SBI (South Indian Bank- State Bank of India) Co-branded Credit cards to customers who come under the selected/designated branches across India. The SIB-SBI Co-branded Credit Cards are available in two variants - SimplySAVE Credit Card and Platinum Credit Card. The bank launched premium variant of Visa Card i.e. Visa Platinum Near Field Communication (NFC) Card which is enabled with NFC technology which permits contactless transactions at NFC enabled POS terminals.
In FY2017, the bank introduced its new mobile banking application SIB Mirror+ to provide a next generation digital banking experience. The new app, which is available to both Domestic and (Non- Resident Indian) NRI customers, is packed with features such as Self Registration facility, E-statement, Bill Payment module, within bank, NEFT (National Electronic Fund Transfer) & IMPS (Immediate Payment Services) 24X7 fund transfer, e-lock, Mobile/DTH (Direct-to-home) Recharge, Social Money etc.
SIB opened 10 new outlets (4 Branches and 6 Extension Counters), 60 ATMs and 4 CRMs across the country during the financial year 2017-18.
During the FY 2018, SIB tied up with Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Ltd. and SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd. in addition to its existing partner Life Insurance Corporation of India. As the second partner for General Insurance in addition to Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd., the bank tied-up with The New India Assurance Co. Ltd.
The bank launched a new online mutual fund platform SIB e-Invest' to facilitate online purchase & sale of mutual funds has been introduced for branches.
During the FY 2018-19, the Bank introduced eight new loan products, of which most of them were launched to give thrust to MSME sector. In addition to the above, the Bank has revamped 'Supply Chain Finance' which is supported by a robust Supply Chain Management Solution, which could be accessed via URL by vendors, dealers and corporates along with the bank user for real time entry, monitoring and disbursement of credits.
SIB opened 18 new outlets (16 Branches and 2 Extension counters) 36 ATMs and 7 CRMs across the country during the financial year 2018-19. During the year 2019, the Bank had closed 18 ATMs, 1 CRM and replaced 27 ATMs with CRMs.
During the FY2020, the Total Deposits of the Bank increased from Rs 80,420.12 crore to Rs 83,033.89 crore, registering a growth of 3.25%. During the year, the gross advance of the Bank registered a growth of 2.97%, to touch Rs 65,524.02 crore.
During the year, the bank allotted Non-Convertible, unsecured, Basel III Compliant Tier I bonds aggregating to Rs 500 crore on 24.01.2020.
The Bank has been successful in widening its network across India with 935 banking outlets (875 Branches, 54 Extension Counters, 3 satellite branches and 3 Ultra small branches) and 1,424 ATMs/CRMs. The Bank opened 7 new outlets (5 Branches and 2 Extension counters) and 37 ATMs/CRMs across the country during the financial year 2019-20.
During the FY2020, the bank bagged the Best MSME Bank (Private Sector) Award by ASSOCHAM in connection with 7th MSME National Excellence Awards-2019. orporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Excellence Award, 2019 instituted by Rotary District 3201 for carrying out CSR project in the area of Education for Underprivileged. Also received 6 awards at the IBA Banking Technology Awards, 2020.
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