State Bank of India Review

State Bank of India is the largest Public Sector Bank.

SBI or State Bank of India is a regional banking giant with an asset base of $250 billion and $195 billion in deposits. SBI has a market share of about 20% in deposits and advances in the Indian commercial banks. SBI accounts for almost one-fifth of the nation’s loans.

Features of State Bank of India

• State Bank of India is one of the oldest and largest Public Sector banks in India.
• State Bank of India has branches and ATMs all over India. And the details of which are available at their website.
• SBI has one of the largest networks of ATMs. It is located in the Asia Pacific region.
• SBI carries out many functions of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• Most of the SBI braches are computerized. SBI has over 16000 branches in India.
• SBI provides foreign trade transactions. Transactions like opening of letter of credit are provided by the State Bank of India. SBI has 52 foreign offices in 34 countries including Australia, UK,USA, Canada, Bahrain, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
• SBI has vast net work in India and overseas. It provides a range of banking products at NRI’s also. SBI has the largest branch networks in India.

Seven subsidiary banks of State Bank of India are:

• State Bank of Hyderabad
• State Bank of Patiala
• State Bank of Surashtra
• State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur
• State Bank of Indore
• Bank of Mysore and
• State Bank of Travancore.

What are the services offered by SBI?

SBI offers a variety of services;

• Statutory payments like Income Tax, Sales Tax, Service Tax, Advance tax can be done at any SBI branches
• Foreign currency can be obtained at the branches.
• SBI Railway Visa Card is issued and can be used to book Railway tickets from Indian Railways website. There is no transaction charge for the same. There is an additional incentive of getting upto 10% of the value as railway points similar to the frequent flier mile points in Airlines.
• SBI is also the largest issuer of the debit cards (Maestro) in India.
• Usage of a withdrawal slip or cheque for cash withdrawals.
• If the account of a customer is inactive for a long time, bank doesn’t charge any fee for reactivation. But their verification process may take longer time.

Being the biggest and the influential has its own disadvantages. When the SBI employees go on strike the banking operations in the country are affected. Then The Reserve Bank of India takes control of the clearing and the banking operations.

SBI with its huge banking network is the best bank for common man. The services are economical at the same time they are technologically advanced too. The status of government bank makes SBI a wise option to deposit your money.