Bandhan Bank Ltd. is a banking and

financial services Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...

company, headquartered in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

History

Bandhan was set up in 2001 as a

not-for-profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

entity with the objective of financial inclusion and

women empowerment Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in several method, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, equal status in society, ...

. It started its microfinance operations from Bagnan, a small village, about 60 km from

. The model followed for delivery of

microfinance Microfinance consists of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses (SMEs) who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; saving ...

services was individual lending through group formation. Bandhan focused on serving underbanked and underpenetrated markets. In 2006, Bandhan acquired a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) and created Bandhan Financial Services Private Limited (BFSPL) to scale up its microfinance activities. In 2010, it became the largest microfinance institution (MFI) in the country. In April 2014, Bandhan received an in-principle approval from the

Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...

(RBI) for a bank license. On June 17, 2015, RBI granted the banking licence to Bandhan, making it the first microfinance institution to become a universal bank in India. Bandhan Bank commenced operations on August 23, 2015. The then Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, inaugurated the Bank in

. Its public shareholders then included International Finance Corporation; Caladium Investment Pte Ltd (the sovereign wealth fund of

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, an arm of GIC); and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). On 27 March 2018, Bandhan Bank was listed on the bourses and became the 8th largest bank in India by market capitalisation, on the day of its listing. Its shares opened at ₹487.33 on the National Stock Exchange and closed at ₹476.85; 27% over its issue price of ₹375.

Merger

In October 2019, Bandhan Bank acquired GRUH Finance Limited, a housing finance company, in a share-swap deal.

Operations

Bandhan Bank is present in 35 out of 36 states and union territories of India, with nearly 6,300 banking outlets After obtaining the universal banking licence from the Reserve Bank of India, Bandhan Bank started operations on August 23, 2015, with 501 branches, 50 ATMs and 2,022 Banking Units (BUs). The Bank has mobilised deposits of ₹1,51,212 crore and its total advances stand at ₹1,36,995 crore as of March 31, 2025. Bandhan Bank is focused on inclusive banking and serves the unbanked and under-banked segments of the country, with 73% of its branches situated in rural and semi-urban areas.

Products and services

The bank's products and services include savings and current accounts, fixed deposits, credit cards, home loans, personal loans, insurance and mutual funds.

Listing and shareholding

The equity shares of Bandhan Bank are listed on BSE and the NSE. Bandhan Bank is an associate of Bandhan Financial Holdings Limited (BFHL) which holds a 39.99% stake in the bank as on December 31, 2021. Further, BFHL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandhan Financial Services Limited (BFSL). Other major shareholders of the Bank as on December 31, 2021, are Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (9.89%), and Caladium Investment Pte. Limited (7.79%).

History

Merger

Operations

Products and services

Listing and shareholding

See also

References

Further reading