Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Apr 1: State Bank of Mysore (SBM), a proud brand name of Karnataka instituted under the patronage of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV of Mysore kings lineage and founded by Bharat Ratna Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya in 1913 under the name, 'Mysore Bank Ltd' has lost its identity from Saturday April 1.

The board of the majestic SBM head office building at SBM Circle in Bengaluru was changed to SBI on Friday in the presence of large gathering of employees. The bank has become one with State Bank of India at the end of a long-drawn process that lasted several years at the stroke of 12 midnight on Friday.

Along with SBM, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur as well as Bharatiya Mahila Bank have merged with State Bank of India (SBI) under an initiative meant to raise the global ranking of the Indian banking behemoth, State Bank of India. With this merger, SBI will be listed under top 50 banks in the world, and will become the second bank in the world with largest network of branches.

SBM at KG Road is now SBI head office

The first branch of Mysorebank as it is popularly known, was opened at the KG Road Avenue Road Junction on October 2, 1913. According to the bank's official records, in 1953, Bank of Mysore was appointed as an agent of the Reserve Bank of India to undertake government business and treasury operations, and in March 1960, it became a subsidiary of the State Bank of India. It remained an as an associate of State Bank of India till yesterday midnight.

SBM employees had vociferously opposed the merger plan with a number of protests but the union government stood firm on its decision of merger. Once the merger process, which might take about six weeks, is completed, merger of branches and offices will take place and it is expected that mostly rented facilities will be vacated. A few of these banks including SBM have also offered voluntary retirement scheme as there is a need to cut down on the employee strength, as the total number of employees of SBI is set to rise to 2.72 lac.

The bank officials have said that till alternative arrangements are made, customers can use the same log in password in online transactions, IFSc code, passbooks, cheque books etc.

The employees of SBM who had assembled in front of the bank's head office on Friday evening, were emotional at the grand exit of the bank that had been synonymous with state government transactions, treasury, and pensions. The merger has come at a time when banks have decided to introduce additional charges to their customers like cash transactions,charges for non-maintenance of revised minimum balance in accounts, and other charges.