Without a single doubt, the Bank Of Baroda (BoB) is one of the largest banks of India, and it has been in operation since 1908, which is like more than a century old bank right now. But it actually wasn’t until 1969, that the government of India decided to nationalize this bank along with some other big banks as well. Keeping the history thing aside, well, BoB is now one of the most important banks in the country, we can say THAT for sure. And if you’re just someone who is interested in knowing the precise reasons why Bank Of Baroda grew this much and continues to grow like crazy even in 2025, then this SWOT analysis of Bank Of Baroda would be helpful in that. Let’s just get to it then, shall we?
Strengths Of Bank Of Baroda
1. It’s Been Around FOREVER!
First of all, for those who don’t know yet, yes, Bank Of Baroda is actually the 2nd largest public sector bank in India after SBI. And since it has been providing banking services to the general public of India ever since 1908, the trust factor is really high here. And once, it also made it to the list of the Forbes Global 2000 list, which is impressive in itself.
2. Huge Team of Customers
As of 2025 though, if we talk about the customer base of this bank, well, it is just HUGE, to say the least. How many users are we talking about here though? Well, it’s around anywhere between 120 million to 150 million users right here in India, which is just insane if you think about it for a sec.
3. Branches EVERYWHERE
Since it is the 2nd largest bank in India, you could have already expected thousands of branches of this bank, right? Well, that’s how it is, as of 2025, there are as many as 8,243 branches nationwide in 17 countries.
4. The Government’s Got Its Back
As we already told you, it is a public sector bank, and as of 2025, the government of India has about 64% share in the Bank Of Baroda.
5. Strong Capital Position
It’s not just government backing that makes it a huge bank, it is doing financially well too, like in the recent financial year, it had about 37% capital adequacy ratio (CAR), and the total deposits number reached a mind-boggling Rs 13,26,919 crore.
Weaknesses Of Bank Of Baroda
1. Paying Employees a Lot
See, as a government bank in the country, sure, it has so many employees, and how about paying them every single month? Well, that’s not cheap at all. Want an example of just that? Well, you see, in 2024, its “operating costs” (fancy term for spending) jumped up 12%, how about that now?
2. Risky Loans
See, it is one of those banks that is known to provide good loans to farmers and smaller businesses in the country, which is good, but the payback ratio is going down a bit. And yes, that’s a big problem right there.
3. A Bit Slow with Tech
And then, while every other bank is using the latest tech, as a government bank, Bank of Baroda is kinda slow, and this is not good as customers want cutting-edge features all the time.
Opportunities For Bank Of Baroda
1. Going Super Digital
See, as we talked about this in the weakness part, yes, if Bank of Baroda can improve its tech usability, it can grow even more and become even more famous among the general public of the country. Sure, the bank is also working on doing something about it and that’s how we see their projects like the “Bob World” which is a good start. Since UPI and digital payment are BIG in India, this is a good idea altogether.
2. New Places, New Faces
For a bank, having more branches is always a good thing, and yes, the Bank of Baroda has the opportunity to set up even more branches, not just right here in India, but in other countries too. That’s precisely how it’ll become a true global bank.
3. Cool New Ideas
Well, it seems like everyone is going towards that green future, and with new ideas like “green” savings accounts and even better, those fancy plans to grow the case of the customer, BoB may be onto something here.
4. Rules That Help
Since this is a government bank, it is pretty easy to understand that government initiatives down the line will only help this bank grow even more, you know, getting to more people, and earning even more, which is ultimately good for the Indian economy.
5. India’s Growing Fast
It’s not a hidden fact or secret that India’s economic growth is about to skyrocket in a few years, and that will ultimately be a good thing for this bank because it’ll have even better chances of providing banking services to the general public.
Threats For Bank Of Baroda
1. Tons of Competition
For public sector banks especially, the competition in this banking segment of the Indian market is growing super fast. Like, even smaller private banks are doing super well, and then you have big names like ICICI, HDFC, Axis, and Kotak, which are also growing super fast. At this point, if you observe the banking scene of the country, it looks more like a race.
2. Money Troubles
See, we talk about how the financial standing of BoB is kinda strong as of 2025, but the loans they’re giving out to smaller businesses and farmers are kinda risky. For example, the bank’s “bad loans” are down to 0.7% in 2024, but it’s still a worry.
3. Rule Changes
Sure, BoB has government backing in India, but these new banking rules are dropped every now and then by the RBI, and if there is something that doesn’t fit for the BoB, it’ll have to invest more to fix things up or put in more efforts just to keep up.
4. Hackers and Tech Trouble
Yes, just like other public sector banks, BoB is also trying to get more digital, which is good, but then you heard about tech issues and hackers, that are out there and can seriously hurt the bank in many ways.
5. Interest Rate Thingy
Like, recently, we saw that RBI brought up some rules regarding interest rates, and it changed things a bit, and that right there can impact how much BoB makes. Like, in 2024, its “money-making margin” dipped a bit to 3.2%.
