State Bank of India, in its bid to increase its presence in the global banking scene, opened its first branch in Male’ in February 1974. This heralded the operations of its Maldives operations as one of the foreign branches of Indias largest commercial bank. The State Bank Group has over 20000 branches within India and another 173 offices outside India spread over 34 countries.
The opening of the Male’ Branch of State Bank of India in February 1974 heralded the introduction of modern banking in this remote island nation of the Indian Ocean. The Branch made a humble beginning with a staff strength of 6 employees and a capital of 100,000 Rufiyaa. The major task of the Branch was to look after Government imports and exports, through a standby credit line established at our London Office and act as Bankers’ to the Government. The Branch handled all banking activities of the Government of Maldives until the setting up of the Central Bank viz. the Maldives Monetary Authority in 1982.
Over the past 39 years the Branch has earned the trust and goodwill of the people of and at the highest levels in the Government and business circles of the country. The Branch is popularly known “Bank of India” or “India Bank”. Today the Bank employs more than 70 Maldivian nationals and has trained and equipped them with adequate banking skills.
With the opening of a Branch at S.Hithadhoo, in August 2008 which is in the southernmost Addu Atoll (situated below the Equator) and another branch at Maamigili in March 2009 which is in the western Ari Atoll, the banks services have been made available in distant islands. The Bank has set also up five ATMs in the country. Being the only Indian Bank in the country it provides excellent and reliable banking facilities to the Indian Diaspora.
State Bank of India, Male’ Branch has been an active partner in the development of the economy of the Republic of Maldives for more than three decades. Despite the presence of five other Banks, our Bank enjoys a dominant market share of 28% in deposits and 38% in advances. The Bank’s contribution in development of the tourism sector is widely acknowledged. The Bank has also been instrumental in giving a boost to the aviation sector, fishery projects, and housing sector.
SBI Maldives offers a wide range of services such as deposits, remittances, trade finance solutions, syndicated loans etc. Synergy of the SBI Group and its specialized subsidiaries make SBI Maldives the ideal partner for all your business.
