Federal Bank

Federal Bank Limited was founded as Travancore Federal Bank Limited in the year 1931, with an authorized capital of Rs. 5000. It was established at Nedumpuram, a place near Tiruvalla, in Central Travancore (a princely state later merged into Kerala), under Travancore Company’s Act. Thirteen years later, in 1944, Shri K P Hormis and his close relatives /friends took over the controlling interest in the bank. The following year, the paid-up capital of the bank went up to 71,000 and its registered office shifted to Aluva, in Ernakulam district of Kerala.

With the opening of its first branch at Aluva, Travancore Federal Bank commenced its business. It was in the Board Meeting of March 1947 that the name of the bank was changed to Federal Bank Limited. After a gap of 12 years i.e. in 1959, the bank was licensed under Sec. 22 of the Banking Companies Act 1949, after which it floated several kuries and launched various deposit schemes. In 1964, it took over the liabilities of Chalakudy Public Bank Ltd. (Chalakudy), Cochin Union Bank Ltd. (Trichur) and Alleppey Bank Ltd. (Alleppey).

In the next five year, Federal Bank took over St.George Union Bank Ltd. Puthenpally (1965) and Marthandom Commercial Bank Ltd. Trivandrum (1968). In 1970, it became a Scheduled Bank. Two years later, it became an authorized dealer in Foreign Exchange. Thereafter, Federal Bank came in an expansion mode and opened 53 branches in 1975 and 42 branches in 1976. In 1984, Federal Bank set up an Agricultural Finance Department in its head office, improving its performance in the field of agricultural and priority sector lending.

The year 1985 saw Federal Bank opening a Personnel and Industrial Relations Department and a Computer Department. Four year later, the bank had entered the arena of Merchant Banking Operations. In 1993, ICICI group was roped in as a shareholder, through private placement. The following year, the bank came out with its first public issue, which was oversubscribed around 60 times. In the year 1997, Federal Bank inaugurated its first ATM, at Eranakulam North.

Tech-Savvy Bank
It was in the year 2000 that Federal Bank started the Any Where Banking (ABB) service, in Bangalore, followed by the Depository Services, in association with NSDL. The same year, Internet Banking ‘FedNet’ was launched, with the Federal Millennium CD being just in tow. With the start of 2001, the bank saw the launch of Wide Area Network, connecting Regional Offices at Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Ernakulam and Chennai F & I with Head Office. The following year, all the branches of the bank were fully computerized (using FedSoft).

In 2002, Federal Bank started the installation of switch for networking all the ATMs. Soon enough, it introduced FedAlerts and FedMobile, with real-time transaction alerts and customizable options. Two years later, a call centre was set up by the bank, attached to the Systems and Technology Department, and co-branded credit cards were launched, in association with ICICI Bank. Not much time later, Federal Bank claimed the distinction of becoming the first traditional bank with networked branches, having 100 percent connectivity.

Products & Services
Federal Bank launched its International Debit Cards in the year 2004. The same year, it also provided Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) facility in all the branches, followed by Online Railway Reservation (with the first kiosk at the Marine Drive branch of Kochi). One year later, the bank launched Fed+Amrita, an online system for fixing medical consultation, health check up, and in-patient payments, from anywhere. In 2006, Federal Bank issued GDRs, becoming the first traditional bank to do so.

Federal Bank also provides the following services:

Head Office
Federal Bank H.O.
Federal Towers,
Aluva-683101
Kerala, India.
Phone: 2623620, 2623621, 2623622, 2623623, 2623624, 26236
Fax: 2622672
Website: www.federalbank.co.in