Indian Banks

The Bank has a very humble but a very inspiring beginning. On 14th September 1918 , "The Saraswat Co-operative Banking Society" was founded. Mr. J.K. Parulkar became its first Chairman, Mr. N.B. Thakur, the first Vice-Chairman, Mr. P.N. Warde, the first Secretary and Mr. Shivram Gopal Rajadhyaksha, the first Treasurer. These were the people with deep and abiding ideals, faith, vision, optimism and entrepreneurial skills. These dedicated men in charge of the Society had a commendable sense of service and duty imbibed in them. Even today, our honorable founders inspire a sense of awe and respect in the Bank and amongst the shareholders.

The Society was initially set up to help families in distress. Its objective was to provide temporary accommodation to its members in eventualities such as weddings of dependent members of the family, repayment of debt and expenses of medical treatment etc. The Society was converted into a full-fledged Urban Co-operative Bank in the year 1933.

The Bank has the unique distinction of being a witness to History. The Bank, which was originally founded in 1918, i.e. close on the heels of the Russian Revolution, also witnessed as a Society and as Bank-the First World War, the Second World War, India's freedom Movement and the glorious chapter of post-independence India. During this cataclysmic cavalcade of history, the Bank as a financial institution and its members could not of course remain unaffected by the economic consequences of the major events. The two wars in particular brought in their wake, paucities of all kinds and realities and stand by its members in distress as a solid bulwark of strength. The Founder Members and the later-day management's of the Bank continued to demonstrate their unwavering faith in the destiny of the common man and the co-operative movement and they encouraged the shareholders to save despite all odds.