ABSTRACT
When the Mercantile Bank of India opened its doors for business on 4 February 1893 its branches and staff began with the benefit of 40 years' experience of Eastern exchange banking. Its predecessor, the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China, was a well-established business with branches throughout India, the Straits and the Chinese treaty ports. The bank had used the shortened form of its name, 'the Mercantile', since its inception and bequeathed this recognized and respected corporate identity to its successor.
