Pre-Independence Era
- Bank of Hindustan was setup at Calcutta in 1770.
- General bank of India was setup in 1786.
- First presidency bank, Bank of Calcutta was established in June 1806, later renamed as Bank of Bengal in the year of 1809.
- Second Presidency bank, Bank of Bombay was established in 1840.
- Third presidency bank, Bank of Madras was established in 1843.
- Allahabad Bank was established in 1865. It is one of India’s Oldest Joint Stock Bank.
- The Comptoire d’Escompte de Paris opened a branch in Calcutta in 1860.
- HSBC established itself in Bengal in 1869, the Oldest Joint Stock Bank of India.
- In 1895, Punjab National Bank was established in Lahore, the first bank purely managed by Indian.
- In 1911, Central Bank of India which was established, it was the first Indian commercial bank wholly owned and managed by Indians.
- In 27th January 1921, Imperial Bank of India was formed by merger of Bank of Bengal, Bank of Madras and Bank of Bombay.
- In 1926 Royal Commission on Indian Currency (Hilton Young Commission) recommends the establishment of a central bank to be called the 'Reserve Bank of India'.
- The Reserve Bank of India was established on April 1, 1935 in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
Pre-Nationalization Period (1947-1969)
The Banking Regulation Act, 1949 gave extensive, regulatory powers to RBI to the commercial banks.
The government of India nationalized the Imperial Bank (established in 1921) and transformed it to State Bank of India in 1955. State Bank group was formed by nationalizing eight regional banks in 1960 to extend the reach of these banks to many semi-urban and rural areas.
Post Nationalization period (1969 to 1991)
In July 1969, the Government nationalized 14 banks, namely, Allahabad Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, Dena Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab National Bank, Syndicate Bank, UCO Bank, Union Bank, United Bank of India
Post-liberalization period (1991 till date).
Narasimham committee 1 recommended reforms to revamp the banking system so as to make it competitive and efficient.
Narasimham Committee – II dealt with issues in technology up gradation in the banking sector.
