SBI DECIDES TO TREBLE ITS BRANCH NETWORK THIS DECADE

SBI plans to treble its branch network to 50000 by the end of the current decade from 17075 at present. SBI has 12,207 domestic and 141 overseas branches, while the remaining ones belong to its six associate banks. There are 250 million accounts. The bank has plans to merge the associate banks with itself over the next few years.



Only Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which had 16,386 branches at the end of 2008 and provided services to 190 million personal clients and 3.1 million corporate clients, matches SBI’s network.


This year alone, SBI opened 975 branches; it intends to add another 1,000 during 2010-11. At the start of the decade, SBI had around 9,100 branches. In recent months, the Reserve Bank of India also liberalised its branch licensing norms, allowing domestic banks to freely open branches in towns with a population less than 50,000.


Source: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/sbi-decides-to-treble-its-branch-network-this-decade/384653/