The Bank has a very humble but a very inspiring beginning. On 14th September 1918 , “The Saraswat Co-operative Banking Society” was founded. Mr. J.K. Parulkar became its first Chairman, Mr. N.B. Thakur, the first Vice-Chairman, Mr. P.N. Warde, the first Secretary and Mr. Shivram Gopal Rajadhyaksha, the first Treasurer. These were the people with deep and abiding ideals, faith, vision, optimism and entrepreneurial skills. These dedicated men in charge of the Society had a commendable sense of service and duty imbibed in them. Even today, our honorable founders inspire a sense of awe and respect in the Bank and amongst the shareholders.
The Society was initially set up to help families in distress. Its objective was to provide temporary accommodation to its members in eventualities such as weddings of dependent members of the family, repayment of debt and expenses of medical treatment etc. The Society was converted into a full-fledged Urban Co-operative Bank in the year 1933.
The Bank has the unique distinction of being a witness to History. The Bank, which was originally founded in 1918, i.e. close on the heels of the Russian Revolution, also witnessed as a Society and as Bank-the First World War, the Second World War, India’s freedom Movement and the glorious chapter of post-independence India. During this cataclysmic cavalcade of history, the Bank as a financial institution and its members could not of course remain unaffected by the economic consequences of the major events. The two wars in particular brought in their wake, paucities of all kinds and realities and stand by its members in distress as a solid bulwark of strength. The Founder Members and the later-day management’s of the Bank continued to demonstrate their unwavering faith in the destiny of the common man and the co-operative movement and they encouraged the shareholders to save despite all odds.
MISSION STATEMENT
“To emerge as one of the premier and most preferred banks in the country by adopting highest standards of professionalism and excellence in all the areas of working !!!”
MILESTONES
Thanks to these sustained and assiduous efforts over 25 years after its inception, the Bank had gained Strong foundation in terms of its membership, resources, assets and profits. By 1942, the Bank was fulfilling all the banking needs of its customers.
During the late fifties, the Bank grew from strength to strength. The Bank had established five branches within the city of Mumbai and one each at Pune and Belgaum. In its 50th year, the Bank chose a bee motif to symbolise the Bank’s emblem – a fitting and appropriate characteristics of a Bank that believed in hard work, a search for all that is good, a team spirit to achieve its objectives and a selfless service to its members and customers. The Bank has grown in stature, progressed in its social and economic objectives and produced an image of what an ideal bank should be. Resultantly, in the year 1977-78, the Bank’s gross income crossed the Rs.3.00 crore mark for the first time.
Last two decades the Bank has witnessed a steady growth in the business. The bank has a network of 191 fully computerised branches covering six states viz. Maharashtra, Gujrat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa and Delhi. The Bank is providing 24- hour service through ATM at 67 locations.
In 1988 the bank was conferred with “Scheduled” status by Reserve Bank of India.The Bank is the first co-operative bank to provide Merchant Banking services.The Bank got a permanent license to deal in foreign exchange in 1978. Presently the Bank is having correspondent relationship in 45 countries covering 9 currencies with over 125 banks.
In 1992 Bank completed 75 years. Platinum Jubilee Celeberations were inaugurated on 14th September,1992. Bank also crossed the business level of Rs 700 Crores
The Beginning of the 21st Century has been a giant leap forward for the Bank. Bank chose a path of organic/inorganic growth and our pace of growth accelerated .Bank’s total business which was around Rs 4000 Crore in 2000 almost tripled to Rs 15295 Crore in 2007.
Bank in the year 2008 launched the Branding Initiative .The purpose of such an exercise was to reconfirm the thrust of Bank on its core values ,which can be summed up as “Sense of Belonging “.The name of the Bank should always inspire the Sense of Belonging in all its stakeholders and that Bank continues to fulfill the changing needs and expectations of the customer with unflinching gusto and aplomb .
