The bank's headquarters were in
Bombay, now called
Mumbai. The Bank of Bombay undertook all the normal activities which a
commercial bank was expected to undertake. The Bank of Bombay, in the absence of any
central banking authority at that time, also conducted certain functions which are ordinarily a preserve of a central bank.
The Bank of Bombay and two other Presidency banks - the Bank of Calcutta and the Bank of Madras - were amalgamated and the reorganized banking entity was named the
Imperial Bank of India on 27 January 1921. The
Reserve Bank of India, which is the central banking organization of India, in the year 1955, acquired a controlling interest in the Imperial Bank of India and the Imperial Bank of India was renamed on 30 April 1955 to the State Bank of India.