TheOriginOf.com

Andhra Bank

November 16, 2007 – 1:38 pm

India was under the rule of the British Empire as a colonial country and was liberated as a democratic Republic in 1947. Banking in India, started under the British Rule from 1786. The banking industry suffered a lot till the beginning of the 20th century and only private individuals and communities were interested in starting banking operations to serve the people within territorial boundaries. The Reserve Bank of India was nationalized in the post Independence period and was empowered to control the banking operations with a view to boost Indian economy. In the later part of 20th Century, there was no looking back and India is emerging as a super power in all the strides including banking operations.

With this background, it would be worthwhile to analyze the foundation and growth of Andhra Bank. Dr. Bogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya, an eminent personality in the social, economical and political fields of pre-Independent India founded Andhra Bank in November 1923 and this bank commenced its operations on 28th November 1923. The then paid up capital of this private bank was Rs.1.00 lakh and the authorized capital was Rs.10.00 lakhs.

Surviving the turbulent periods after the Second World War, when many banking enterprises closed their business in India, Andhra Bank sustained its financial activities and marched towards progress with the support of its customers. In 1949, when Reserve Bank of India took the regulation and control of all banks in India, Andhra Bank was also included. In 1956, linguistic division of States was promulgated and Andhra Pradesh with its headquarters at Hyderabad, which is also the headquarters of Andhra Bank, was established for the Telugu speaking people of India. The services of Andhra Bank gained momentum in the new born State of Andhra Pradesh. The nationalization of 14 important banks in India in the year 1969 saw to it that Andhra Bank is also a nationalized bank in India today.

In the fast growing Indian economy, Andhra Bank boasts of contributing a major share towards it and a pioneer in introducing “Credit Card” system. Today Andhra Bank has a clientele base of 1.30 crores transacting a total business of Rs.49,000 crores. Statistically, Andhra Bank operates in 21 States, 2 Union territories and has 1,179 branches. Apart from its own 354 ATMs, Andhra Bank has made sharing arrangements with other popular banks like SBI, HDFC, Indian Bank and UTI Bank to extend ATM Services to its customers through more than 9,000 ATMs in the country. The latest addition is Core Banking facility with the partnership of Hewlett-Packard (HP) India, facilitating its customers to get access on a 24 x 7 basis to the products and services of Andhra Bank from anywhere and anytime.