Providing facilities to 120 million customers in 02 years, know how was the journey of the bank

Union Bank’s journey: Like many great institutions of the country, Union Bank of India had a very good and humble beginning. Seth Sitaramji Kisandayal Poddar joined hands with the business community to start a bank in Mumbai after the end of the First World War (1914–1918). When he thought of opening a bank. At that time, many people stood together to join that business and list it and take it forward. In this new beginning, along with the business community, many others were also supporting Seth Sitaramji Kisandayal Poddar with credibility, due to which this bank came to be known as Union Bank of India.

We should have the skills to run a big bank. Apart from this, there should also be a capacity to do transactions worth crores of rupees in a day. Although at present we do not have many banks in our country, yet it also does not mean that we cannot efficiently handle and manage crores of rupees of transactions. With these words of Mahatma Gandhi, banking facilities and services expanded in the country. It was from his visionary words that the development of the bank was anticipated.

The bank has expanded its size immensely in the last few years and has emerged as one of the leading banks in the country. Presently Union Bank of India is the 5th largest public sector bank in the country. This bank is also a listed institution in the stock exchange. The Government of India has about 83.50 percent stake in the total share capital of the bank. Let us tell you that at the time of independence, this bank had only 4 branches, but after that the bank expanded its branches rapidly. In the year 1964, the 100th branch of the bank was opened at Irinjalakuda in the state of Kerala. After this, in the year 1977, the bank opened its 999th branch in Cochin, Kerala and 1000th branch was opened in Chetganj, Varanasi.

Today the network of the bank has increased a lot. The bank has more than 9300 branches. Apart from this, there are more than 11800 ATMs. Apart from this 8216 BC Points more than 77000 employees are working with the bank and serving more than 120 million customers.

Bank branches are also abroad
Apart from this, the bank also has 3 branches in Hong Kong, Dubai International Financial Center (UAE) and Sydney (Australia). 1 Representative Office in Abu Dhabi (UAE), 1 Banking Subsidiary in London (UK), 1 Banking Joint Venture in Malaysia, 4 Para-Banking Subsidiaries (Domestic); There are also 3 Joint Ventures (including 2 in Life Insurance business) and 1 Associate – Chaitanya Godavari Gramin Bank.

How much was the profit of the bank in 2021
The first balance sheet of the bank was published in December 1920 and showed a profit of 1,86,605-6 anana-1 paise. The total business of the bank as on March 31, 2021 was Rs 15,77,489 crore, with deposits of Rs 9,23,805 crore and advances of Rs 6,53,684 crore. A small seed sown in the year 1919 has thus emerged as a banking giant in every aspect.

Nationalization took place in 1969
The bank opened the bank’s first safe deposit vault on 22 April 1939. The bank was nationalized in the year 1969 with 14 major banks. In 1975 Belgaum Bank Limited, a private sector, was merged with Union Bank of India, thereby adding 40 branches of Belgaum Bank to Union Bank. Apart from this, in the year 1978, the bank became the first nationalized bank to publish the annual report in bilingual (Hindi and English) form.

The bank got the award

In the year 1982, the bank received the Government National Award by the President. This award was given for Outstanding Performance in the year 1979-80. After the Post Reform IRA, the bank doubled its business between 1993 and 1996.

Listed in the stock market in the year 2002
In the year 2002, the public issue of 18 crore shares was subscribed 5.22 times, after which the company’s shares were listed on BSE and NSE. In the year 2003, the bank was the first among the public sector banks to introduce telebanking as well as anytime and anywhere banking.

56 new branches opened in 2007
In the year 2007, the bank opened 56 new branches across the country in a single day. Apart from this, the bank had installed ATM at Serethang, Nathulla, Sikkim at an altitude of 14300 feet. It was the tallest ATM in India. In 2008, the bank became the first major nationalized bank in the country to achieve 100% CBS networking. With this it became the first public sector bank to introduce mobile banking facility in the year 2008. In 2012, the bank inaugurated the specially designed First Talking ATM for the visually impaired.

merger of these banks
April 1, 2020 is a very important event for the banking sector in India, in which 10 public sector lenders were merged into four big and strong banks. Let us tell you that this mega merger had attracted the attention of the most people. In this, Mangalore-headquartered Corporation Bank and Hyderabad-headquartered Andhra Bank were amalgamated into Union Bank of India.

Country’s fourth largest bank in terms of branches
The banking sector has played an important role in writing the story of India’s development and Union Bank of India has been instrumental in this. Reflecting the progressive changes witnessed in this sector since its inception with many achievements, Union Bank of India has achieved its new heights. Union Bank of India is the fourth largest public sector bank in India in terms of branches and fifth largest in terms of business.

Bank gave loan facilities
Union Bank of India has been at the forefront of meeting its CSR commitments. For this, the Bank established Union Bank Social Foundation Trust (UBSFT) in the year 2006 as an extended branch to carry out CSR activities of the Bank. The Bank continues to focus on social development and equal opportunities for all sections of the society. The bank provided loan facilities to various weaker and unreserved sections of the society especially women, minority community and self-help groups.

Helping people in Corona crisis
The bank has taken several initiatives to support the businesses affected by Kovid. The bank has helped customers tide over the liquidity crisis during the pandemic through various schemes such as Emergency Line of Credit, Personal Loan Scheme, SHG COVID Suvidha Loan, Union Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line, Extended Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme, etc.

advance in technology
On the technology front, the bank has taken several pioneering initiatives and has earned the distinction of being the first public sector bank to complete 100% computerization of its branches. The bank has a dedicated team of professionals fully equipped to manage more than 100 in-house applications.

Giving many facilities to customers

The Bank is adopting Lisation/Automation/Integration of Internal Business Processes to enhance the quality of services and improve Turn Around Time (TAT). Initiatives taken by the Bank such as PAPL (Pre-approved Personal Loan Facility), Straight Through Processing (STP) of Online Retail and MSME Loans, Implementation of End to End Digitization for Shishu Mudra Loans, Dial-A- for various loan products Loan facility is given. Loan origination through multiple channels like missed call, SMS and call centre, digital lead sourcing trough PSBloanin59minutes, bank market etc. are crucial for digital on-boarding of customers.

What is the bank’s plan next?
In its long journey of 102 years, the bank has faced many challenges for the pan India network today. With the amalgamation, the bank has become one of the largest financial institutions in the country. The recent amalgamation has given the Bank an opportunity to revamp its organization structure, create new verticals, new product lines, new processes etc. Going forward, the bank will keep a special focus on digitalization and digitization.