Widely known for customer centricity, Canara Bank was founded by Mr Ammembal Subba Rao Pai, a great visionary and philanthropist, in July 1906, at Mangalore, then a small port town in Karnataka. The Bank has gone through the various phases of its growth trajectory over hundred years of its existence. Growth of Canara Bank was phenomenal, especially after nationalization in the year 1969, attaining the status of a national level player in terms of geographical reach and clientele segments. In June 2006, the Bank completed a century of operation in the Indian banking industry. The eventful journey of the Bank has been characterized by several memorable milestones. Today, Canara Bank occupies a premier position in the comity of Indian banks. With an unbroken record of profits since its inception, Canara Bank has several firsts to its credit.

Over the years, the Bank has been scaling up its market position to emerge as a major ‘Financial Conglomerate’ with as many as nine subsidiaries/sponsored institutions/joint ventures in India and abroad. As at December 2013, the Bank has further expanded its domestic presence, with  over 4580  branches and over 5000 ATMs.Several IT initiatives have been undertaken during the year, which include Funds Transfer through Interbank Mobile Payment Services (IMPS) in ATMs, ASBA facility to net banking users, E-filing of tax returns and facility for viewing details of tax deducted at source, Terminal at select branches for customers to use net banking, SMS/e-mail alerts for all transactions done through ATM, net banking, POS, mobile banking, online payments irrespective of amounts, online loan applications and tracking facility, e-passbook,  automatic renewal of term deposits and on-line submission of application for SB accounts. Under Government business, the Bank has implemented internet based application for UGC Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme, Web portal for National Scheme for Girl Child Secondary Education, Electronic Accounting Systems of e-Receipts-Customs (EASeR-C) for collection of customs duty and e-payment of commercial taxes module for UP, Karnataka, Delhi and Tamil Nadu.

Not just in commercial banking, the Bank has also carved a distinctive mark, in various corporate social responsibilities, namely, serving national priorities, promoting rural development, enhancing rural self-employment through several training institutes and spearheading financial inclusion objective. Promoting an inclusive growth strategy, which has been formed as the basic plank of national policy agenda today, is in fact deeply rooted in the Bank’s founding principles. The growth story of Canara Bank in its first century was due, among others, to the continued patronage of its valued customers, stakeholders, committed staff and uncanny leadership ability demonstrated by its leaders at the helm of affairs. The bank strongly believe that the next century is going to be equally rewarding and eventful not only in service of the nation but also in helping the Bank emerge as a “Preferred  Bank with Best Practices”.