State Bank of India
in the United States of America
Mode of Operation
The bank is present in the USA through its subsidiary, State Bank of India (California), with a representative office in Washington D.C. and three branches in the US.
Overview
SBI has been present in the USA for the last 36 years, and it has branches in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Its subsidiary in California has branches in Los Angeles, San Jose, Canoga Park, Fresno, Artesia and San Diego.The bank's primary objective for establishing its US operations was to facilitate trade between the USA and India and offer remittance services to the Indian Diaspora.
SBI has one subsidiary in the USA - State Bank of India (California), which was incorporated in 1982. It offers a wide range of services through its branches, but the safe deposit locker facility is available only at the Artesia branch.
SBI provides a wide range of international services in the USA, including trade-related services, arranging suppliers' credit for exporters and buyers' credit for importers, issuing letters of credit, handling documentary collections, and funds transfer. It has also made considerable progress in the USA commercial loans market through origination and syndication. Its Los Angeles branch deals in wholesale trade finance, commercial loans and investments.The branches in Chicago and New
Company Background
The State Bank of India (SBI) was incorporated in June 1806 as the Bank of Calcutta. It was renamed State Bank of India in 1955, with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) becoming a major stakeholder.With the passing of the Subsidiary Banks Act in 1959, SBI took over eight former state-associated banks as its subsidiaries.
Global Footprint of State Bank of India
As on March 31, 2006, the company had 70 overseas offices across 30 countries. It maintains correspondent banking relationships with 520 international banks in 123 countries.The bank has approximately 1,100 bilateral key exchange arrangements for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), enabling the flow of financial messages covering trade, remittances, etc.
SBI offers a wide range of services to its
customers, including personal banking, agricultural banking, NRI banking, international banking, corporate banking, e-banking, SME banking, etc.
In FY 2005-06, the bank's revenues grew by 6.19 per cent and reached US$ 9.6 billion, as compared to US$ 9.04 billion in the previous year.
It had an employee strength of 198,774 as on March 31, 2006.
The SBI is present in all the continents on the globe.
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money to India) and Indian companies operating in the USA.
Future Plans
In 2006, international banking formed only 11 per cent of SBI's loan portfolio. However, the bank considers international banking to be a key driver of revenue growth in the coming years. SBI aims to increase the revenue share of international banking to 15-20 per cent of its wholesale banking profit by 2008.
SBI plans to implement 'mySAP' ERP in order to automate and integrate its Human Capital Management (HCM) processes.This will be one of the largest HCM implementations in the global banking industry, integrating more than 370,000 SBI employees and retirees. It would help the bank in responding faster to market demands and also facilitate real-time information access and proper allocation of resources.
York and the subsidiary in California offer
additional services, such as FDIC-insured demand and time deposit products with different maturities.
In addition to remittance services, it offers Indian Rupee drafts which are payable on the same day of presentation across 2000 centres in India.
Currently, the bank has an asset base of US$ 1.8 billion in the USA and employs 163 personnel.
Success Factors
Technological Upgradation
SBI has implemented the Finnacle software in 25 of its foreign offices.This has helped it in enhancing customer service, increasing productivity and improving risk management capabilities.The bank is also trying to implement real time on-line banking. It has fully networked more than 3150 branches that offer core banking, in addition to all of the 4749 branches of associate banks.These technological upgradations have been a key reason for the bank's success in the USA.
Synergies of Operation
SBI continues to grow globally by increasing the number of foreign offices to 70 in 2006 from 54 in the previous year. Further, it has the largest network of branches and ATMs in India.This offers unparalleled benefits to its customers, as they can avail of the bank's service from virtually any part of the globe. A large number of foreign offices also help in catering to the demands of the Indian Diaspora.
Rich Experience and Established Brand With an experience of over 200 years, SBI has established its brand globally. It has gained expertise in every sphere of banking - wholesale trade finance, commercial loans and investment banking.
SBI has leveraged its well-established brand to strengthen its foothold in the USA.The bank remains the preferred choice for NRIs (remitting
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