The first all-women bank in India, Bharatiya Mahila Bank, is to set up retail operations in November this year.
The bank – set up exclusively for female customers – is to open 39 branches in its first year of operating, following approval from the Indian Finance Ministry.
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Bharatiya Mahila Bank, which will get initial capital equivalent to $1.7bn, plans to open up to 300 more branches within the next five years.
The state-owned bank was backed by the Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, who announced proposals for an all-women bank in a budget speech earlier this year.
"Initially we should start with at least one branch in each major region of this country, South, West, East, Centre, North and the North-east," he said.
Usha Ananthasubramanian, executive director of Punjab National Bank, is set to be the chief executive of Bhartiya Mahila, which will include both male and female staff members.
An all-women checking account is currently offered in India by HDFC Bank, the country’s third-largest bank by assets. Two female-only cards, Solitaire and Solitaire Premium, were piloted in late 2011 with travel and shopping offers by an all-female product development team.
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