Check out the top 10 most trusted and frequently used banks in India
10 best and largest banks in India. Source: shutterstock.com
Today PaySpace Magazine has listed ten largest and most popular Indian financial institutions.
SEE ALSO: 10 leading banks in Europe
Top 10 banks in India
- HDFC Bank
- Axis Bank
- IDFC First Bank
- State Bank of India
- Bank Of Baroda
- Punjab National Bank
- ICICI Bank
- Canara Bank
- IDBI Bank
- Bank of India
We’ve decided to start with HDFC, and deservedly so. Actually, this bank is considered to be the biggest private sector lender by assets in India, and it is the largest Indian financial institution by market cap as well. With $170B of total assets and $17B of revenue (as of 2019), this bank got on the list of 2019 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands.
HDFC Bank was founded in 1994 in Mumbai, India. As of the second quarter of 2019, the bank had no less than 5,100 branches in 2,760 cities. What’s more, no less than 104,000 people work in HDFC.
Total assets – $166,5B
Pros
➕ HDFC is #1 when it comes to overseas banking in India, and it also has offices outside the country
➕ Vast network of branches
➕ HDFC is one of the best Indian banks in term of loans
Cons
➖ Sometimes it’s hard to reach out customer support
➖ Frequent clients’ complaints about incompetence of branch workers
Axis Bank is one of the largest private sector banks in India. Moreover, it is considered to have the largest ATM network (around 11,800 ATMs) in the entire country. As of 2019, Axis Bank had $9.9B of revenue, with total assets of no less than $120B. The number of employees totaled 62,000 (as of 2019), and according to different surveys, it is one of the most popular banks in India.
The financial institution was founded in 1993, and initially was called UTI Bank. Today, Axis Bank runs nine international offices in different parts of the world, and has 4,050 domestic branches.
Total assets – $113B
Pros
➕ Easy access savings account
➕ Free cheque book
➕ Low opening deposit
➕ Well-built and user-friendly app
Cons
➖ It takes time to open an account (filling in too many details)
➖ Not the best service
➖ The bank tries to sell different policies from other companies
➖ Not the widest ATM network, especially when it comes to remote areas
The financial institution was established in 1997 in Chennai, India, and was initially called IDFC Bank. Today it is called IDFC First Bank, since it merged with Indian non-bank financial company Capital First Ltd in 2018. What’s interesting, originally, IDFC was also registered as a non-banking financial company.
As of today, the bank has more than $1.2B of revenue, while total assets are no less than $16B, and the number of employees totaled 7,040. IDFC works with both corporate and private clients and specializes in the infrastructure sector.
In 2017, IDFC First Bank gave a $43M loan to Flipkart, which was one of the biggest loans in the e-commerce sector.
Total assets – $15,7B
Pros
➕ Good customer support service
➕ One of the best rates of interest on Fixed Deposits
➕ Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) without fees or charges
➕ Cashback options
Cons
➖ Low return on equity
➖ ATM network is not wide compared to competitors
➖ Low interest coverage ratio
State Bank of India is a government corporation with headquarters in Mumbai. It was created in 1806 as Bank of Calcutta (also known as Bank of Bengal), and it was one of three Presidency banks of India (Bank of Bombay, 1840, and Bank of Madras, 1843 were the other ones). Then, the firms were re-organized as Imperial Bank of India (1921), and since July 1, 1955, the financial institution has been called State Bank of India (SBI).
The bank’s revenue in 2019 totaled $40B, while total assets were estimated at no less than $530B. As of March 2019, State Bank of India had 257,252 employees, who work in over 24,000 branches all over India. Moreover, SIB has the largest presence in foreign states among all Indian banks, since it has around 200 international branches in 36 countries.
Total assets – $515,2B
Pros
➕ State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest bank in India
➕ SBI in #1 by total assets in the country
➕ One of the widest ATM networks in India
Cons
➖ Hidden extra charges during closing account
➖ Frequent crashes of the system
➖ Not the best customer support
➖ Opening an account can take hours
Bank of Baroda (BOB) is a government-owned bank, and was incorporated in 1908 Baroda (now Vadodara), India. On July 19, 1969, Bank of Baroda was nationalized by the Indian government.
As of 2019, the financial institution had revenue of $7.3B, with total assets of more than $100B. Today, Bank of Baroda has no less than 9580 branches, where 85,000 employees work, while the number of ATMs has long since exceeded the 10,000 mark.
The bank also operates worldwide, and has 107 offices in 24 states (61 BOB branches, 1 representative office, and 38 offices of 8 subsidiaries).
Pros
➕ Simple and fast transactions
➕ No minimum balance requirement in the saving account
➕ Net NPA is low
Cons
➖ Poor customer support
➖ A little bit obsolete net banking system
➖ The app and website are not user-friendly
➖ Bank branch service is not the best
Punjab National Bank (PNB) is another representative of the state-owned banking industry. It was founded in 1894, and today has headquarters in New Delhi, India. Total assets of the bank exceeded $1.1T mark (which is one of the biggest figures in the country), and the revenue totaled $85B in 2019.
The financial institution has an extensive history and is considered to be a pro when it comes to acquisitions and mergers. Today, more than 70,800 people in 7,100 branches across 760 cities work for PNB, and the number of ATMs has increased to more than 11,000. Moreover, more than 120M Indian citizens trust PNB with their funds.
Total assets – $108,5B
Pros
➕ Decent and highly secure net banking
➕ Punjab National Bank is one of the most used banks across all India
➕ Wide ATM network
➕ Low minimum account maintaining balance
Cons
➖ Not the best customer support
➖ Poor branch banking service
ICICI Bank was established in India in 1994. ICICI stands for Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India. ICICI Bank is a subsidiary of a larger firm (a joint venture with World Bank), and initially was established in 1955 (as a part of it).
ICICI is considered to be the second-largest (in terms of market cap) financial institution in India, with revenue of $11B, while total assets of the bank are $130B (all the numbers are as of 2019).
The bank is really large, since as of 2019 the number of employees totals 84,922. ICICI Bank Limited is presented in 17 countries, and has 4867 physical branches with more than 14300 ATMs (across India only).
Total assets – $130,2B
Pros
➕ Reward points system and paybacks
➕ “Book my show” offers
➕ Comprehensive and secure mobile banking app
Cons
➖ It’s hard to reach out customer support
➖ Sometimes money and points are being charged without any notifications
➖ Poor customer care
Canara bank is a large government-owned Indian financial institution with headquarters in Bengaluru. It was founded as Canara Hindu Permanent Fund in 1906, but the name was soon changed to Canara Bank Ltd. (1910). In 1969 Indian Government nationalized the financial institution, and the bank was renamed again (the current name is still Canara Bank).
Today, 58,350 people work in the bank, and its revenue for 2019 totaled almost $8B. The total assets of Canara Bank are estimated at $100B. As of 2019, the financial institution operates 6,310 offices and has no less than 8850 ATMs.
Pros
➕ Well-built and convenient mobile banking app
➕ Good insurance options
➕ Attractive rate of interest
Cons
➖ Not the best customer support
➖ It can take hours (sometimes days) to open a bank account
➖ Sometimes ATMs are not available 24/7
➖ Sometimes implies extra/hidden charges
This bank was founded in 1964 in Mumbai, India. IDBI is a public sector bank, and it was intended to finance large industries.
It is a big bank, so more than 18,000 people in 1,900 branches work for IDBI. The bank has more than 3,700 ATMs and overseas offices. The total assets of the financial institution are estimated at $52B.
IDBI has made major contributions to the Digital India campaign since it allows most transactions to be made online.
Total assets – $44,8B
Pros
➕ Use-friendly and intuitive app
➕ Opening an account doesn’t take hours/days
➕ Wide ATM network
➕ Wide range of banking solutions
Cons
➖ Not the best customer service
➖ Branch banking service is mediocre
Bank of India (BOI) was incorporated in 1906 in Mumbai, India. Initially, BOI was a private bank, but it was nationalized in 1969. Moreover, it had just $72,000 in the capital and 50 employees.
Today, it is one of the top 5 state-owned financial institutions, with $91B of total assets and $6.7B of revenue as of 2019. More than 48,800 people work in 5,100 branches of BOI.
The major aim of BOI is to serve all Indian communities, which sometimes can become an issue. Furthermore, the Bank of India is a co-founder of SWIFT (cost-effective communication/financial services).
Total assets – $88B
Pros
➕ It’s good in terms of fixed deposit
➕ Nice insurance options: wide coverage and affordable premium services
➕ NRI deposits
Cons
➖ Frequent app crashes
➖ Customer care service still requires improvement
➖ ATM problems
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