Top Public Sector Banks In India 2020

These banks have emerged to be trusted brands where people deposit and invest money without thinking twice. Some of these banks stand out when it comes to offering services and are thus a preferred choice of greater number of people.

Here is a look at some of the best public sector banks in India.

1] State Bank of India 

Commonly known as SBI, this bank was set up in the year 1955. It is one of the oldest and the most trusted public sector banks in India. SBI is owned by the Indian government. It offers all kinds of banking services and is known for maintaining transparency in its dealings. It boasts of more than 40 crore satisfied customers.

After receiving an overwhelming response from people in India, the bank went on to open its branches worldwide. Today, it has nearly 200 offices in 36 different countries.  The headquarters of SBI are located in Mumbai.

2] Bank of India

This bank was established in the year 1906 as a privately owned entity. However, after the nationalization of banks, it became a public sector bank. This change took place back in 1969. The bank has 5,500 branches operating across the country. 

It has been serving millions of Indians by catering to their banking requirements.The bank also has its branches outside the country. It operates in 22 other countries with around 60 branches. New York, Paris, London and Singapore are among the countries where Bank of India has its branches.

3] Punjab National Bank

This bank came into being in the year 1895. It was founded under the guidance of one of the greatest Indian leaders of all times, Lala Lajpat Rai. The bank was established as a part of the Swadeshi movement. PNB was managed solely by Indians.

It became extremely popular in the pre-independence era and is still trusted as much. It offers several banking services and is known for providing quality banking products. The bank has around 7000 branches and has its presence in every nook and corner of the country.

4] Bank of Baroda

Bank of Baroda was opened in Vadodara, Gujrat in the year 1908. The bank is known to offer quality banking and finance services to its customers ever since its inception.

It is known to be the second largest nationalized bank in the country. The bank does not only operate in India but has its presence around the world. It operates in as many as 25 countries across the globe with more than 75 million happy customers. Dena bank and Vijaya bank merged with Bank of Baroda recently thereby making it an even bigger entity.

5] Central Bank of India

Central Bank came into being in the year 1911. It has been serving the customers happily ever since the beginning. The bank is known to offer numerous banking products.

It has a team of qualified and experienced bankers who have the answer to all your banking related queries and are always happy to help their customers. The bank has nearly 5,000 branches operating pan India. It also has offices in Hong Kong and Nairobi.

The headquarters of this bank is set up in Mumbai.

6] Canara Bank

Established in the year, 1906, Canara bank has its headquarters in Bengaluru. The bank has more than 6000 branches and nearly 9500 ATMs operating across the country. It offers several banking products and is known to offer impeccable service. It has more than 8 crore happy customers.

The bank does not only operate in India but has its branches in many other countries too. It has been serving people in New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, Manama, Leicester, Johannesburg and Dubai.

7] Union Bank of India

Union Bank of India started as a limited company in the year 1919. It became a full-fledged bank in the year 1969 after nationalisation. The bank offers numerous banking products. By providing quality banking services consistently for years it has managed to acquire more than 5 crore customers.

Its customer base is increasing with every passing year. It is the proud owner of over 4500 branches spread across India. It also has branches in 4 other countries including Hong Kong, Sydney, Dubai and Antwerp.

8] UCO Bank

UCO Bank was established back in the year, 1943. It has its headquarters in Kolkatta, West Bengal. The bank has around 50 branches across the country and nearly 4000 plus service units. It has also made its presence overseas with branches in Singapore and Hong Kong.

9] Bank of Maharashtra

Bank of Maharashtra came into being in the year, 1935. The bank has been offering excellent service to its customers ever since its inception. It provides all kinds of banking and finance services. It has its headquarters in Pune. 87.74% of the total shares of the bank are held by the Government of India.

10] Indian Overseas Bank

Indian Overseas Bank was established back in the year, 1937. It has more than 3,400 branches across the country. The bank offers a host of banking services to meet the requirement of different segments of customers. After its success in the country, the bank went on to open branches in foreign land. It has 6 foreign branches.

You can safely open account and acquire other banking services from any of these banks!

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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.

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PSU banks announce share-swap ratios ahead of April 1 merger

Following the footsteps of State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda, the boards of 10 public-sector banks on Thursday approved mergers and issued share-swap ratios to create four large banks in the economy.

The four anchor banks will be Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, and Indian Bank. The merger will be effective from April 1.

Last year, Bank of Baroda took over Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank. Before that, State Bank of India (SBI) had merged all its five associate banks with itself to enter the global top 50 banks’ list in terms of size. Punjab National Bank (PNB) will merge with United Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce to create the largest bank in the country after State Bank of India.

According to notifications to the stock exchanges, Delhi-based PNB will issue 1,150 shares for 1,000 shares of Oriental Bank of Commerce, and 121 shares for 1,000 shares of United Bank of India.

Mumbai-based Union Bank of India will take Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank. Union Bank of India will issue 325 shares for 1,000 shares of Andhra Bank, and 330 shares for 1,000 shares of Corporation Bank.

Bengaluru-based Canara Bank will issue 158 shares for 1,000 shares of Syndicate Bank.

Allahabad Bank said for every 1,000 shares (face value Rs 10) of Allahabad Bank, there would be 115 shares (face value Rs 10) of Indian Bank.

The Union Cabinet had approved the consolidation to build the mega banks “to create more efficient and bigger public sector banks in the challenging environment to meet the credit needs of a growing economy and to achieve operational efficiency by scale of business”. The amalgamation will lead to a wide geographical reach, technology adaption, and, more importantly, better utilisation of scarce capital.

A grievance redress system has been put in place, and a committee has been formed headed by a retired judge. If shareholders have any issue with the swap ratio — for example, if they feel they didn’t get enough time or if they need information — they can raise it. This is the board-approved swap ratio.

“After the committee receives all the grievances, it will have seven days to recommend changes, if needed, which will be the final swap ratio,” said a top official of a PSB to be merged.

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Canara bank net profit rises 21.83% in Q2FY20

Canara Bank net profit rose 21.83% to Rs 364.92 crore on 14.06% increase in total income to Rs 14,461.73 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018.

The result was announced during market hours today, 6 November 2019.

The bank reported an improvement in asset quality. The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 38711.33 crore as on 30 September 2019 as against Rs 39399.02 crore as on 30 June 2019 and Rs 45233.22 crore as on 30 September 2018.

The ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 8.68% as on 30 September 2019 as against 8.77% as on 30 June 2019 and 10.56% as on 30 September 2018.

The  ratio of net NPAs to net advances stood at 5.15% as on 30 September 2019 as against 5.35% as on 30 June 2019 and 6.54% as on 30 September 2018.

The bank's provisions and contingencies declined 28.12% to Rs 2037.97 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018.

Provision Coverage Ratio improved to 70.11% in Q2 2019 from 61.39% in Q2 2018.

Canara Bank is a state-owned commercial bank with headquarters in Bangalore. The Government of India holds a 70.62% stake in Canara Bank as of September 2019.

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Canara Bank profit rises 17% in Q1FY20

Canara Bank wednesday reports its net profit in the June quarter rose 17% year-on-year because of lower provision and improved asset quality.

The bank posted a net profit of ₹329.07 crore for the three months ended 30 June compared with ₹281.49 crore in the year-ago period. Profit was higher than ₹284 crore estimated by analysts.

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs), as a percentage of total advances, were at 11.70 % in the June quarter compared with 11.90 % in the March quarter and 13% in the year-ago period.

Provisions during the quarter fell 26.46% to₹1,899.13 crore as against ₹2,582.30 crore in the year-ago quarter. In the Jan-Mar quarter, the bank had set aside ₹5,523.50 crore in provisions.

Net interest income, or the difference between interest earned on loans and that paid on deposits, decreased 16.54% to₹3,240.61 crore from ₹3,882.9 crore in the corresponding period of last year.

Other income, which includes core fee income, rose 1.58% to ₹1,861.87 crore in the three months from ₹1832.91 crore a year ago.

Post provision, the net NPA ratio was at 8.2% against 8.31% in the Jan-Mar quarter and 9.35% in the year-ago quarter.

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These Smaller banks to be merged with PNB & Canara bank in next round of consolidation

The consolidation of public sector banks is expected to get fresh impetus as a few mid-sized and small state-run lenders are being considered for mergers with Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Canara Bank, two senior finance ministry officials told.

The mid-sized lenders that have been identified for merger include Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank, United Bank of India and Union Bank of India, said one of the officials who didn’t wish to be named.

PNB and Canara Bank will separately lead the merger process with these banks, said the official.

With the Bank of Baroda merger with Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank already underway, the next phase of PSB consolidation is expected to begin early next year, said the second official who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The merger process of Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank is going ahead smoothly and is expected to take another year to complete. The second phase of merger will be launched soon, irrespective of which party comes to power,” said the second official.

The official added that the next phase of merger could be taken up simultaneously and in a more aggressive manner.

However, the country’s largest lender State Bank of India, which has already taken its associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank within its fold, is unlikely to be touched in the near future.

PNB’s merger efforts

Last year, Punjab National Bank was in talks with other government banks, with a strong presence in south India, for a possible merger.

However, it aborted the idea with its non-performing assets (NPA) rising to 18 per cent. Besides, the bank hit by the Nirav Modi scandal last year also ran into huge losses. Its NPA level is now down to about 16 per cent.

“It was deferred due to these pressing issues but now that bank has considerably recovered and the acquisition plan will be looked into,” said the first ministry official.

PNB was also in talks with Vijaya Bank for a possible merger.

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Canara Bank Q4 loss narrows on lower provisioning for bad loans

State-owned Canara Bank on Friday said its net loss narrowed multi-fold to Rs 551.53 crore for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018-19, mainly driven by lower provisioning for bad loans.

The bank had posted a net loss of Rs 4,859.77 crore during the corresponding January-March period of the preceding fiscal. Total income of the bank during the March quarter rose to Rs 14,000.43 crore, compared to Rs 11,555.11 crore in the year-ago period, Canara Bank said in a regulatory filing. For the full 2018-19 fiscal, the bank has posted a net profit of Rs 347.02 crore. There was a net loss of Rs 4,222.24 crore in 2017-18.

Total income during the fiscal was higher at Rs 53,385.30 crore as against Rs 48,194.94 crore a year earlier. The Bengaluru-headquartered lender witnessed improvement in the asset quality with the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) falling to 8.83 per cent of gross advances at March-end 2019 compared to 11.84 per cent a year earlier. Net NPAs or bad loans stood at 5.37 per cent, compared with 7.48 per cent year ago.

In absolute-value, the gross NPAs were Rs 39,224.12 crore at March-end 2019, as against Rs 47,468.47 crore a year earlier. Likewise, the net NPAs stood at Rs 22,955.11 crore in the quarter under review, compared to Rs 28,542.40 crore. There was also a reduction in provisioning requirement to the tune of Rs 5,120.85 crore in March quarter FY2019 as against Rs 8,762.57 crore parked aside in the year-ago period.

The overall provisioning and contingencies stood at Rs 5,523.50 crore, less than Rs 9,075.04 crore a year ago. Canara Bank said, as per the RBI directive, it restructured as many as 41,602 MSME account as on March 31, 2019 with amount involving Rs 753.51 crore as a relief to them under Goods and Services Tax (GST).

During the quarter ended March 31, 2019, six fraud accounts were detected, amounting of Rs 704.06 crore, wherein the bank is required to provide Rs 429.87 crore, in addition to the provision of Rs 274.19 crore already provided up to December 2018, it said. “The total amount provided during the quarter is Rs 107.47 crore, representing 25 per cent of the provision to be made. Further, the remaining unamortised provision amount is debited to other reserves, which will be amortised during first three quarters of next financial year,” it added.

During the March quarter, the bank allotted 2 crores equity shares at Rs 186 each under Employee Share Purchase Scheme, the lender said. Provision coverage ratio as on March 31, 2019 stood at 68.13 per cent, as against 58.06 per cent a year ago.

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Canara Bank Q3 profit jumps two fold

Public sector lender Canara Bank Monday reported over twofold jump in net profit at ₹317.52 crore for December quarter 2018 as provisioning for bad loans declined.

The bank had logged a net profit of₹125.75 crore in October-December 2017.

Total income in the reported quarter stood at ₹13,513.35 crore as compared to ₹12,341.09 crore in the year-ago period, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

The bank's asset quality improved a tad with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) falling to 10.25% of gross loans as at December-end 2018 against 10.38% in the year-ago period.

Net NPAs or bad loans too came down to 6.37%  of net advances from 6.78%  by December-end 2017.

In absolute value, gross bad loans of the lender stood at ₹44,621.27 crore as on December 31, 2018 as compared to₹43,111.98 crore a year ago.

Net bad loans were valued at ₹26,591.07 crore as against ₹25,295.26 crore.

Provisions and contingencies during the reported quarter stood at ₹1,977.34 crore as compared to ₹2,673.64 crore in the same period of 2017-18.

The completion of allotment procedure of the said issue and final allotment will be informed to stock exchanges as and when the same is completed, it added.

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