This has changed after the initiation of Pradhan Manthri Jan Dhan Yojana – accounts of women jumped radically to 60%.

[7] The bank also aimed to inspire people with entrepreneurial skills and, in conjunction with NGOs, planned to locally mobilise women to train them in vocations like toy-making or driving tractors or mobile repairs, according to Usha Ananthasubramanian (CMD).

[9] Studies have shown that asset ownership amongst women reduces their risk of suffering from domestic violence.

US-based FIS Global, in partnership with Wipro was providing IT systems at the country's first women-focussed bank.

Bharatiya Mahila Bank's branches were located in Mumbai-Nariman Point, Central Mumbai-Ghatkopar, Thane, Pune, Patna, Noida, Chandigarh, Bhubaneshwar, Panchkula, Kochi, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Indore, Bhopal, New Delhi-Nehru Palace, New Delhi-Model Town, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Patna, Ranchi, Raipur, Guwahati, Shimla, Shillong, Gangtok, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Bengaluru, Mangalore, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Jaipur, Alwar, Dholpur, Komargiri, Kakinada, Goa-Panji, Agartala, Agra, Haridwar, Kanpur, Lucknow, Dehradun, Doddapalya, Kutiyatu, Murshidabad and Mysuru.

The board consisted of a business graduate sarpanch from Rajasthan, Chhavi Rajawat, Dalit entrepreneur Kalpana Saroj, who turned around a tubes business, retired public banker Nupur Mitra, academic Pakiza Samad, private equity professional Renuka Ramnath, Godrej Group executive Director Tanya Dubash and a government nominee.

Uma Shashikant of The Hindu writes: Women-only banks are another instance of wanting to treat women ‘differently’.