SBM striving to preserve its 103-year-old legacy

With State Bank of Mysore’s (SBM) merger with State Bank of India (SBI) just a notification away, the former is in a hurry to preserve its 103-year-old legacy for posterity.

Popularly known as ‘Namma Bank’ or ‘Mysore Bank’ in the Old Mysore region, it carries an emotional connect with its customers that goes beyond banking business and which underlines its image as bankers to the masses.

SBM, which was started in 1913 at the instance of engineer-statesman Sir M Visvesvaraya under the patronage of the then Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, has been continuously serving the people of Karnataka as well as the nation.

SBM was appointed as an agent of Reserve Bank of India in 1953 to undertake government business and treasury operations. Later in March 1960, it was made a subsidiary of State Bank of India under the SBI Subsidiary Banks’ Act 1959.

With its merger with SBI set to take place soon, it will lose its ‘Mysore Bank’ identity, feel many people who are associated with the bank.

To preserve its legacy, the board of directors and employees have come up with a series of initiatives — setting up an exclusive museum, unveiling of busts of the founders and releasing customised “My Stamp” and a “Special Postal Cover”.

SBM’s headquarters located on the busy Kempe Gowda Road in Bengaluru is utilising its heritage building to create an exclusive ‘Mysore Bank Museum’.

The museum will house all historic documents of the bank, right from the first share certificate to some of the key documents about economic and business growth of the region, which is in its possession.

The bank, which facilitated financial development and overall economic and industrial growth of Karnataka, honoured its founders — Maharaja of Mysore Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV and Sir M Visvesvaraya — by unveiling their busts.

Employees of the bank have also composed a song praising both the patron and the founder.

“ The ‘Special Postal Cover’ and ‘My Stamp’, which were released on December 16, are now part of the exercise to build a heritage of the bank before it moves completely into the fold of SBI group,” said N Krishnamachari, Managing Director of SBM.

SBM has grown progressively, right from its inception and has declared uninterrupted profits since 1913. As a premier commercial bank in the State, with an all-India presence, it started operations with an authorised capital of ₹20 lakh, which has now been increased to ₹500 crore.

As on March 30, 2016, the paid-up capital of the bank is ₹48.01 crore, of which SBI holds 90 per cent, with the balance being held by private shareholders and other institutions.

The bank’s networth stands at ₹4,671 crore.

The bank was able to raise additional capital through Tier-II bonds to achieve a capital adequacy ratio of 12.43 per cent as per Basel III norms.

The bank earned a net profit of ₹358 crore for the period ended March 2016. With its network of 1,087 branches across the country, total business turnover of the bank exceeded ₹1,33,000 crore as of November 2016.

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