In the year 1939, a man of 60 years who was deeply concerned for the upliftment of downtrodden thought of establishing a co-operative credit society to help these people and protect them from exploitation of money lenders. This great visionary was Shaikh Mohammedally Allabaux, the founder chairman of the Bombay Mercantile Co-Operative Bank Ltd. alongwith Padmashri Zain G. Rangoonwala established the Bank in the year 1939, which in due course became the largest co-operative bank in the country and in Asia.
The bank created a good track record from its inception. A tiny sapling planted in 1939, became a full-fledged urban co-operative bank in 1941. To widen its scope and give it a secular outlook the bank was named Bombay Mercantile Co-operative Bank Limited in 1949 . From the beginning the bank has a policy of helping petty businessman, vegetable vendors, taxi drivers, small shopkeepers, skilled craftsmen and other weaker sections of the society.
In the world of banking, which operates on trust Bombay Mercantile Co-operative Bank Ltd., as an institution since it's inception in 1939 has created a niche in terms of credibility with the trust of over one million patrons and over 190,000 share holders.Bank has contributed towards socio-economic development of the people in many ways.
From the upliftment of weaker sections, self employment schemes to ex-servicemen promoting women entrepreneurs and providing credit through Micro Financing to the poor women artisans, Bombay Mercantile Co-operative bank in India works for the weak and downtrodden people.
| Maharashtra | Mumbai (23 Branches) Aurangabad (4 Branches) Bhiwandi, Nanded, Pune, Sholapur & Malegaon |
| Gujarat | Ahmedabad (3 Branches) Surat, Baroda & Palanpur. |
| Delhi | New Delhi |
| Uttar Pradesh | Aligarh, Lucknow, Moradabad & Varanasi. |
| Jammu & Kashmir | Srinagar |
| Rajasthan | Ajmer, Jaipur & Jodhpur |
| Andhra Pradesh | Hyderabad |
| Madhya Pradesh | Bhopal |
| Bihar | Patna |
| West Bengal | Kolkata |
To serve the lady members of the Society the Bank has opened branches exclusively managed by lady members of the staff at Khara Tank, Mumbai and another at Aurangabad.
Bombay Mercantile Co.operative Bank Ltd. prides itself of the fact that it has grown with its customers. Many of yester years small borrowers are today's corporate and business houses. Bank has been and will remain a poor man's bank committed to the cause of their upliftment. The bank has worked on the philosophy of providing financial assistance with strong social conscience.
The Bank's focus on customer service and solutions tailored to clients, individual needs at all level have attracted more and more customers. Bombay Mercantile Co.operative Bank Ltd. offers attractive loan schemes for special section of society - for small business, self employed, transports, weaker sections, professionals, artisans, water transport operators, taxi / auto rickshaw drivers, tailors, barbers etc. Loans are given for Housing, Vehicle, consumer durables, loans to salaried employees, export / import finance, loans against gold ornaments, education loan for acquiring higher education both in India and abroad. The Bank also offers several corporate banking facilities, including LCs, trade guarantees, Foreign Exchange, working capital finance etc and franking of documents.
Bank is recognised under the Multi-State Co.operative Societies Act and is authorised to extend it's area of operations to the whole of India. It was the first co.operative bank to provide credit for purchasing taxis. Again it is the first Scheduled Urban Co.operative Bank, which has introduced Micro - Financing Scheme for women artisans in Weaker Sections at Hyderabad and Lucknow.
First Co-operative Bank to be granted the Scheduled status in the year 1988 by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The Bank takes modest pride in being the first Co-operative Bank to have been given the A Category dealership license authorized by the RBI to deal in Foreign Exchange business. The Bank is in the forefront among Indian Banks in financing the country's exports. The Bank also extends all the Banking services to the Non-Resident Indians.
First Co-operative Bank authorized to commence operations in more than one state.
First Co-operative bank to provide taxi/ auto loans
First Scheduled Urban Co-operative Bank which introduced Micro - Financing Scheme for women artisans in Weaker Sections at Hyderabad and Lucknow etc.
To meet the challenges being faced by the banking industry especially Co-Operative Banks, the bank has geared itself by reorganizing its structure by decentralizing power to speed up decision making in all spheres of customer service. For this purpose, the bank is working towards Total Automation including digitization.
Key Initiatives towards Digitization are as follows:
The bank is slowly and steadily increasing its Micro Financing Scheme for artisans, craftsmen and self employed from the weaker sections of society at important craft centres. The focus will be on weavers, brass artisans, chikan and zari workers, carpenters, etc.
Even in the era of new age banking and stiff competition, the bank has and will always retain it's focus on small depositors and small borrowers. Bombay Mercantile Co.operative Bank Ltd. takes its commitment towards the welfare of the society very seriously. The aim of harnessing the country's savings and utilising them to improve the life of the common man has been the Bank's vision for the past seven decades and will continue well into this millennium.