Now,SBI is part of Indian heritage

In the era of ATM machines,transaction tokens are no less than antiques. And if the tokens belong to the Imperial Bank...

In the era of ATM machines,transaction tokens are no less than antiques. And if the tokens belong to the Imperial Bank,now known as State Bank of India (SBI) then it becomes all the more special both in terms of historical relevance and monetary value.

With a rich past of 200 years,SBI is now part of the heritage of India and the Kolkata office is already enjoying the status with a heritage museum. And the Pune main branch,which was established in 1868,also has a reason to celebrate.

Around 140 years ago,in a humble structure situated at Moledina Road was State Bank of India (SBI). Everything,from era to people,has changed,what remains is the State Bank of India,though with a modern look. Forty-three branches of SBI have been identified as heritage branches.

“The transition from Presidency Banks to Imperial Bank in 1921 and then to State Bank of India in 1955 was an eventful journey for the bank,” said Narendra J Bhanage,assistant general manager,SBI main branch,Pune. Talking about the new status of a heritage,Bhanage says,”We do plan a heritage gallery where we will display tokens that were used when the bank was called Imperial Bank. We would also put on display old ledger sheets,old furniture,manually written accounts,handwriting offamous people,rare photographs,stationery,and history boards .”

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