An Indian bank SVC Co-operative Bank (SVC Bank) forced to ensure depositors their capital is safe after the tumble of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) provoked confusion and anxiety due to a resemblance in names.
India’s SVC Co-operative Bank (SVC Bank), issued a statement and sent text messages in English and regional Marathi language to its clients in Mumbai saying it has no connection to the SVB Bank.
We request our members, customers and other stakeholders not to pay attention to baseless rumors and mischief-mongering … insinuating similarities in brand names.”
SVC said in the statement.
SVC held complete deposits of $2.23 billion in 2021-22. The statement said SVC has “robust and strong fundamentals”.
Sachin Mane, branch manager at one of SVC’s branches near India’s financial capital Mumbai told that the lender acted as rumors were spreading on social media about the bank’s financial health.
There were a few queries from customers but it mostly came from social media rumors. We wanted to communicate before lot of people started asking or before it became a big issue.
It’s just confusion.”
Mane said.
On Friday, California banking regulators closed down SVB after a run on the lender, which had $209 billion in assets at the end of 2022, with depositors drawing out as much as $42 billion on a single day, causing it to insolvent.
When one Twitter user asked SVC about “rumours about bank default”, the Indian lender said “You have got the Twitter handle wrong. We are SVC Bank … one of the leading & strongest cooperative banks in India with a legacy of 116 years.”
