SBI begins merger with associate banks

Mumbai: The State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, has kick-started the process of merging its five banks with itself at one go. The merger is expected to be completed by the end of the current financial year. The SBI board met on Tuesday, discussed the issue, and also explored the possibility to merge Bharatiya Mahila Bank. SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya told The Hindu that the merger will help in many ways. " The merger will make it a bigger bank. It will bring in a lot of efficiencies. Now there are a lot of overlaps. These can be taken out," Ms.Bhattacharya said. The five associate banks are State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore. ( Madurai edition of The Hindu, Wednesday, May 18, 2016 ) Courtesy : MPS