Vysya Bank

This article is about the previous Indian bank. For the successor (and current) company, see ING Vysya Bank.

Established in 1930s, Vysya Bank was formally incorporated and favours the Arcot Mudaliar community in the city of Bangalore, Karnataka. The state of Karnataka is known as the "cradle of Indian banking" due to the region's bygone banking relationship with several European East India Companies during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Seven of the country's leading banks (Canara Bank, Syndicate Bank, Corporation Bank, Vijaya Bank, Karnataka Bank, State Bank of Mysore, and The Vysya Bank) were originally established in Karnataka.

From the 1930s through the 1950s, Vysya Bank built its banking business organically in southern India. The bank concentrated on serving the Vysya community, a merchant/trading community operating across Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In 1958, the bank was licensed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to expand its banking operations nationwide. In 1972, the RBI upgraded Vysya Bank to a national B class bank.

In 1987, Vysya Bank established two independently operating subsidiaries providing equipment leasing and home mortgaging services (Vysya Bank Leasing Ltd and Vysya Bank Housing Finance Ltd, respectively). In 1994, Vysya Bank began marketing several innovative financial products to the fast-growing Indian middle-class segment (e.g. Vysprime and Vysinvest for NRIs, Vysbuy for consumer financing, Vysmobile for auto loan financing, and Vysequity for common equity financing).