Saraswat Bank is an urban co-operative banking institution based in Maharashtra, India and operating as a co-operative society since 1918. The Founding Members of the society were Mr. J.K. Parulkar as Chairman, Mr. N.B. Thakur as Vice Chairman, Mr. P.N. Warde as Secretary, and Mr. Shivram Gopal Rajadhyaksha as Treasurer. In 1988, the bank was conferred with "Scheduled" status by Reserve Bank of India. It is the first co-operative bank to provide merchant banking services. The bank got a permanent license to deal in foreign exchange in 1979. Presently the bank has a correspondent relationship in 58 countries covering nine currencies with over 162 banks. The beginning of the 21st century has been a giant leap forward for the bank. The bank chose a path of organic/inorganic growth and its pace of growth accelerated. The bank's total business which was around Rs.4000 crore in 2000 almost tripled to Rs.15295 crore in 2007. In the year 2008, the bank launched a branding initiative to reconfirm the thrust of the bank on its core values, which can be summed up as a "sense of belonging". In the last two decades the bank has witnessed a steady growth in business and also taken several strategic business initiatives such as undertaking business process reengineering initiative, merging seven cooperative banks and then consciously nurturing them. The bank tied up with VISA International for issuance of debit cards. The bank has also successfully launched the RuPay EMV debit card in 2013–14. The bank was the first to achieve this milestone in respect of RuPay EMV card along with the Bank of Baroda. In 2011, the bank was granted permission for All India Area of Operation by Reserve Bank of India. The bank has an ambitious business expansion plan in place to have a presence in all major cities of the country and is well poised to double total business to 1,00,000 crore over the next few years. The bank has a network of 281 fully computerized branches as on 31 March 2018 covering six states viz. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa and Delhi. The bank provides 24-hour service through ATMs at 260 locations. In 2018, the bank also introduced their Bank on WhatsApp facility to help customers receive updates and avail various banking services via the chat platform. As of 31 March 2018 the bank's business had surpassed Rs. 58,526 crores. It received The BestCooperative Bank Award in 2016.
