Madurai had all –women bank in 1940s itself

         Finance minister P Chidambaram's announcement of an exclusive bank for women might have won widespread appreciation. But a banker in Madurai had tried out the idea of an all women bank way back in 1947 itself. The Pandian Bank, founded by Madurai-based S N K Sundaram had made the bank's branch at Town Hall Road in the city as an all-women branch. There were 10 women working in the branch and was an instant hit. (Pandian Bank was merged with Canara Bank).

Soon after independence, many educated women from the middle class approached my father seeking jobs in Pandian Bank, which he had founded. That was when the idea occurred to him. He immediately started a branch where only women were employed.

The all women branch had started functioning at Pandian House, the towering building opposite Madurai Junction railway station where the Canara Bank is functioning now. It was during that time when banks were not nationalised and only private players were in the sector. Pandian Bank had more than 80 branches at that time and was at the forefront of taking banking to rural areas. Still, it was quite a revolutionary idea at that time of history in Madurai.