The history of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd., the then Nadar Bank Ltd., dates back to 1921. The thought of establishing a bank under the guidance of the able Nadar business community was mooted out in the Anniversary of Nadar Mahajana Sangam held at Tuticorin in 1920. The proposal was effected soon. The bank was registered on May 11, 1921as “The Nadar Bank Ltd”. The bank initially known as “The Nadar Bank Ltd.” became a Scheduled Bank under the Reserve Bank of India Act on May 11, 1935. The Nadar Bank Ltd., changed its name to the Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd., on Nov 26, 1962. The bank was having only 4 branches until the year 1947 at Tuticorin, Madurai, Sivakasi, and Virudhunagar. The bank had also a branch at Colombo in the year 1937 and the same was closed in the year 1939. The bank has now 509 full-fledged branches all over India, 12 Regional Offices, 11 Extension Counters, 6 Central Processing Centres, 1 Service Branch, 4 Currency Chests, and 1151 Automated Teller Machines. All the 509 branches are computerized and interconnected. The first branch outside the State of Tamilnadu was opened in the year 1976 at Bangalore. The bank, which had a Net Profit of Rs. 6,984.00 in the year 1921 had spurted its profit to Rs. 5.05 Lakhs in the year 1971 and Rs. 258 Crores for the year ended March 2019. The high level of profit earned by the bank enabled to build up and sustain the high level of reserve base.