Citizen Cooperative Bank merges with TJSB Bank

Panaji: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the merger of the Vasco-based Citizen Cooperative Bank Limited with the Thane-based TJSB Sahakari Bank Ltd.

The amalgamation is part of TJSB Sahakari Bank’s growth strategy.

The approval for the amalgamation aligns with RBI’s broader efforts to strengthen and consolidate the urban cooperative banking sector.

The two entities began operating as one entity on Monday, but the back-end integration is expected to take a little longer, said TJSB Sahakari bank officials.

“Our presence is in five states, and we now have 149 branches, which include the branches that we took over from The Citizen Cooperative Bank,” said the chairman of TJSB Sahakari Bank, Sharad Gangal.

The 53-year-old multi-state cooperative bank was in Goa for 13 years, and the merger gives the bank a bigger footprint in Goa. TJSB now has 12 branches in Goa.

The bank has a business mix valued at Rs 22,500 crore as of March 2024, and it reported a profit after tax of Rs 216 crore.

“The branches of The Citizen Cooperative Bank Limited, Vasco-Da-Gama, Goa, will function as branches of TJSB Sahakari Bank Ltd. with effect from Feb 10,” said RBI chief general manager Puneet Pancholy.

The bank had a tie-up with the electricity department since 2019 for bill payments and recently also joined hands with the PWD for water bill payments.

“Our ambition is to grow, but growth has to be profitable. On the day we started the discussions about the merger, we said that we would absorb all the employees,” said Gangal.

TJSB Sahakari Bank Ltd recently implemented the core banking service at all of its branches in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, and Karnataka.

“We are on par with private banks and public sector banks as far as digitalisation is concerned and technology experience for customers is concerned. We now want to extend these core banking services to the new branches that we gained through Citizen Cooperative. This stabilisation process will continue till April,” said Gangal.

The bank has a target of 15% growth for Goa every year. The bank hopes to have a presence in all the talukas in the near future.