The State Bank of India (SBI) has jumped into the gold bandwagon. This Diwali, the bank began retailing gold coins to retail customers through its branches. At present, 100 SBI branches retail gold. The number is expected to go up significantly in the next two years. By then, branches at all large caters would offer this product, he said.
SBI will sell gold of 999.9 halmark purity(99.99 per cent pure gold) in the form of coins. Their weights would range from 2g to 10g. Gold weighing 20 g and 50 g will be available in the form of ingots. The gold coins will be supplied by PAMP( Products Artisques Meataux Percieux), a Swiss gold refinery linked with the London bullion market. All these would come with the Assay Certificate of purity. The daily retail rates will be displayed at all branches that sell these coins.
SBI is not the first bank to retail gold. ICICI bank, HDFC bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank also retail gold. However, given SBI’s wide reach in the country, gold retailing by banks would be made accessible to a larger number of customers.
Just like other banks, SBI also will not buy back gold from you. A Reserve Bank of India stipulation forbids it.
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