Customer first and nation always SBI’s growth mantra: Chairman

Digital first, customer first, nation always’ is the philosophy guiding State Bank of India (SBI) as it drives business growth, Chairman of the country’s biggest lender C S Setty said.

Talking to the news agency in an interview, Setty said the bank’s focus over the past two years has been on strengthening its capital base, deepening its role in the financial sector and building a more digital, customer-centric banking model. Looking back at his tenure, Setty said several of the most visible objectives his team set had been achieved, including capital augmentation, the listing of SBI Mutual Fund and the bank’s strategic role in addressing the Yes Bank issue.

“These are the most visible outcomes of my tenure,” said Setty, who completed his two years as the bank’s chairman last month.

However, he said the more consequential changes were taking place beneath the surface and would strengthen both SBI and the wider banking industry over the longer term.

At the heart of this transformation, he said, is a “digital-first” approach. Setty argued that the rapid adoption of digital payments in India demonstrated how technology can fundamentally change the way people interact with financial institutions.

The same approach, he said, needs to extend across banking. A digital-first banking system, however, cannot come at the expense of the customer, he said, adding that banks must ensure that customers are protected while carrying out digital transactions and should simultaneously work to improve financial and digital literacy.

The larger objective, he said, should be to help customers achieve meaningful livelihoods rather than viewing banking merely as a series of transactions.

“We cannot be just looking at a transactional approach,” he said, emphasising the importance of building long-term relationships with customers, an approach that he said has traditionally been associated with SBI.

This philosophy, he said, is captured in the framework of “digital first, customer first, nation always.” Setty acknowledged that the vision may sound ambitious, but argued that it is achievable.

SBI, he said, has demonstrated over the past seven decades the role a large public sector bank can play in supporting the real economy.

“We would like to continue that journey,” he said, signalling that SBI’s next phase will seek to combine its traditional relationship-led banking model with digital innovation and a broader developmental mandate.

He further said SBI’s total business could double to around Rs 200 lakh crore by 2030, when the bank celebrates its platinum jubilee, given its current growth trajectory.

SBI came into existence on July 1, 1955, through an Act of Parliament, which, among other things, provided for the transfer of the undertaking of the Imperial Bank of India. The country’s biggest lender crossed the landmark of Rs 100 lakh crore business, which is an aggregate of total loans and advances in the second quarter of the last financial year.

This rose further to Rs 110.01 lakh crore by the end of June 2026.

Whether the bank had set a specific target for its platinum jubilee year, Setty said there was no formal milestone, but the bank’s growth trajectory could take its total business to Rs 170-180 lakh crore and potentially as high as Rs 200 lakh crore by 2030.

“We don’t have any milestone, but if you take the current growth rate, I think we should be around Rs 170-180 lakh crore, or maybe reaching Rs 200 lakh crore. That would be another important milestone,” he said.