Associate Bank Branches To Become SBI Branches From April 1

Mumbai: Branches of all five associate banks, which are merging with parent State Bank of India, will begin functioning as SBI branches from April 1.

"Customers, including depositors of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore will be treated as customers of State Bank of India with effect from April 1, 2017," the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a notification.

With the merger of all the five associates, SBI is expected to become a lender of global proportions with an asset base of Rs 37 lakh crore or over $555 billion, 22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs. It will have over 50 crore customers.

Officers and employees, with the exception of the board of directors and executive trustees of the associate banks, will become employees of SBI following the merger.

SBI alone has nearly 20,000 branches, including 191 foreign offices spread across 36 countries.

Of the five subsidiary banks, only SBBJ, SBM and SBT are listed.

Meanwhile, the government on Monday announced that Bharatiya Mahila Bank will also be merged with SBI.