Established in 1911, Central Bank of India was the first Indian commercial bank which was wholly owned and managed by Indians. The establishment of the Bank was the ultimate realisation of the dream of Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala, founder of the Bank. Sir Pherozesha Mehta was the first Chairman of a truly 'Swadeshi Bank'. In fact, such was the extent of pride felt by Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala that he proclaimed Central Bank of India as the 'property of the nation and the country's asset'. He also added that 'Central Bank of India lives on people's faith and regards itself as the people's own bank'.

During the past 99 years of history the Bank has weathered many storms and faced many challenges. The Bank could successfully transform every threat into business opportunity and excelled over its peers in the Banking industry.

A number of innovative and unique banking activities have been launched by Central Bank of India and a brief mention of some of its pioneering services are as under:

Subsequently, even after the nationalisation of the Bank in the year 1969, Central Bank continued to introduce a number of innovative banking services as under:

Further in line with the guidelines from Reserve Bank of India as also the Government of India, Central Bank has been playing an increasingly active role in promoting the key thrust areas of agriculture, small scale industries as also medium and large industries. The Bank also introduced a number of Self Employment Schemes to promote employment among the educated youth.

Among the Public Sector Banks, Central Bank of India can be truly described as an All India Bank, due to distribution of its large network in 27 out of 28 States as also in 4 out of 7 Union Territories in India. Central Bank of India holds a very prominent place among the Public Sector Banks on account of its network of 3541 branches and 218 extension counters at various centres throughout the length and breadth of the country.

In view of its large network of branches as also number of savings and other innovative services offered, the total customer base of the Bank at over 25 million account holders is one of the largest in the banking industry.

Customers' confidence in Central Bank of India's wide ranging services can very well be judged from the list of major corporate clients such as ICICI, IDBI, UTI, LIC, HDFC as also almost all major corporate houses in the country.

Technology Initiatives

• Phase I of CBS completed. 80 % of business covered.
• SMS alerts for all account holders
• PRE – PAID Gift Card
• Retail sale of Gold Loans
• Auto Debit Facility introduced for payment of bills
• Pre – activated ATM Cards
• 3D secure code for online credit transactions
• Internet Banking
• To install 500 onsite ATMs

Awards /Recognition

• Bank is the second among all PSBs in financing Tata Motors Booking  Loans.
• First in Bancassurance business for the second consecutive year.
• National Award 2009 for excellence in propagating Khadi and Village Industries.
• Banking Excellence Award from Shri. Sultan Ahmed, State Minister for Tourism, Govt. of India conferred by  5th Hospitality India and Explore the World Annual International Awards 2009.
• Winner in the category of Best Education Loan Provider conferred by  Outlook Money NDTV Profit Awards 2009.

General Managers