Merger News: Mega merger of 10 PSU banks takes effect; all you need to know

The merger of ten government-run banks into four will come into force from April 1. The branches of the merging banks will operate as branches of the banks in which they have been merged. Customers of merging banks will also now be treated as customers of the banks in which these banks have been merged. The banks' merger was announced last year in August and the union cabinet gave the final approval on March 4. In the past, various other bank mergers have taken place. For instance, in 2017, the country's largest public lender - the State Bank of India took over five of its associates and Bharatiya Mahila Bank. Last year, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank were merged with Bank of Baroda. Kotak Mahindra Bankcand ING Vysya Bank merger and amalgamation of Centurion Bank of Punjab Ltd. with HDFC Bank took place in 2014 and 2008, respectively.

Here are a few aspects of the PSU bank merger:

1. As per the latest merger- Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and United Bank of India (UBI) will be merged with Punjab National Bank (PNB). The merged entity will become the second-largest state-run bank. The new entity will have a business of Rs 17.95 lakh crore and 11,437 branches.

2. The amalgamation of Syndicate Bank into Canara Bank will create the fourth-largest public sector bank with Rs 15.20 lakh crore business and a network of 10,324 branches.

3. Allahabad Bank branches will operate as those of the Indian Bank. The merger of Allahabad Bank with the Indian Bank will create the seventh-largest public sector bank with Rs 8.08 lakh crore business.

4. Branches of Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank will function as the branches of Union Bank of India. Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank's merger with Union Bank of India will create India's fifth-largest public sector bank with Rs 14.59 lakh crore business and 9,609 branches.

5. The government had front-loaded Rs 68,855 crore to take care of the bank-merger plan.

6. Punjab National Bank was given Rs 16,091 crore, Union Bank of India Rs 11,768 crore, Canara Bank Rs 6,571 crore and Indian Bank Rs 2,534 crore. Allahabad Bank was provided Rs 2,153 crore, United Bank of India Rs 1,666 crore, Andhra Bank Rs 200 crore, Indian Overseas Bank Rs 4,360 crore and UCO Bank Rs 2,142 crore.

7. According to the government, the merger of the 10 banks will lead to the creation of stronger establishments. This merger would follow in the example of the amalgamation of Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank, and Dena Bank last year.

8. With this mega-bank mergers, the number of PSBs will get consolidated from 27 banks in 2017 to 12 banks in 2020.

9. The new 12 public sector banks will be -- six merged banks and six independent banks. State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Indian Bank will be the six merged banks. And Bank of India(BoI), Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Punjab and Sind Bank, which have a strong regional focus, will remain independent entities.