The Catholic Syrian Bank was established on November 26, 1920 at Thrissur, Kerala. The bank commenced business on January 1st, 1921 with an authorised capital of Rs.5 L and a paid up capital of Rs. 4,5270/- . In 1964-65, the Bank took over the liabilities and assets of five small/medium sized banks in Kerala.
In August 1969, the Bank was included in the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934 and in 1975, the Bank attained the status of “A” Class Scheduled Bank when its total Deposits crossed Rs.25 crores.
The year 1975 was a landmark year for the bank, with the entry of the bank into the field of Foreign exchange as well as the beginning of a small Training College for the skill development of staff and management. The bank was also one of the earliest to implement mechanisation with reconciliation of inter-branch accounts being done using IBM Data processing machines since November, 1975. The Bank has a strong rural base with around 80% of the branches in rural and semi- urban areas.
At present, the bank has a network of 363 branches and 1 extension counter which includes NRI/SSI/Industrial Finance and Service branches. Shri. R. Venkatraman is the current Chairman of the bank.