United Bank Limited

United Bank Limited (UBL) (یونائیٹڈ بینک لمیٹڈ) is a Pakistani multinational commercial bank which is a subsidiary of British company Bestway Group. It is based in Karachi, Pakistan. It is one of the largest banks in the Pakistani private sector, with over 1,400 branches across Pakistan, 19 branches overseas, and a customer base exceeding 4 million.

United Bank Limited
TypePublic
PSX: UBL
IndustryFinance
Founded1959 (1959)
FounderAgha Hasan Abedi
HeadquartersKarachi, Pakistan
Key people
Shazad Dada (President & CEO)
Products
  • Commercial banking
  • corporate banking
  • private banking
  • asset management
Revenue ₨80.65 billion (US$500 million) (2016)[1]
₨27.73 billion (US$170 million) (2016)[1]
Total assets ₨1.62 trillion (US$10 billion) (2016)[1]
Number of employees
15,000+
ParentBestway Group (61.47%)
Websitewww.ubldigital.com

The bank has an asset base in excess of $15 billion, a global workforce of almost 13,000 people and a diversified client base covering a broad spectrum of segments and industries across the globe. UBL provides services in wholesale and retail banking through its network of branches and presence across 12 countries in four continents including the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, UK, Switzerland, China, Oman, US, Tanzania, Iran and Pakistan.

For the year 2020, UBL was designated domestic systemically important bank (D-SIB) by the State Bank of Pakistan.[2]

History

Agha Hasan Abedi founded the bank in 1959 and under his leadership, it became the second largest bank in Pakistan. In 1974, the Government of Pakistan nationalized the bank. This, in turn, led to Agha Hasan Abedi founding the Bank of Credit and Commerce International.

In 2002, the Government of Pakistan sold 51 percent shares of the bank[3] to a consortium of Abu Dhabi Group and Bestway. Also, the bank merged its operations in the UK with those belonging to National Bank of Pakistan to form United National Bank Limited. United Bank owns 55% of the joint-venture and National Bank of Pakistan owns the remainder.

In June 2014, the government sold-off its remaining 19.8 percent shares in the bank for $387 million ($310m of which was in foreign exchange).[4]

In November 2018, UBL announced that it was voluntarily shutting down its New York City branch due to it being commercially nonviable to operate.[5]

UBL POS terminals

United Bank Limited in an effort to increase its outreach in the market of Pakistan has done contract with Access Group to activate DigitalPass – POS terminals. DigitalPass is the part of Access Group and has a presence in over 200 cities and towns of the country serving the needs of different merchants. As per this contract, UBL will be provided provision of POS terminals by Access Group to relatively boost the presence of banking activities. It will also help in enhancing the bank’s outreach in terms of POS terminal based Network.

Being the largest bank in the private sector, UBL has over 1,390 branches nationwide and 18 branches outside Pakistan. It has a customer base of more than 4 million, leading the financial and banking services in the country.

Online banking
Map depicting worldwide operations of United Bank (Pakistan). Highlighted countries have branches, subsidiaries and/or representative offices of the bank. Pakistan is highlighted in dark green for reference.

Muhammad Shafiq khan The Ex-president of UBL thought it prudent to initiate UBL’s online banking. Through this facility, customers are able to access their account from more than 1200 branches located in 150 cities across Pakistan. Transactions such as Cash Deposit, Cheque Encashment, Stop Payment, Account Statement, Funds Transfer, Bill Payments are done online without the need to travel to the local branch.

Awards and honors

In May 2016, UBL was adjudged ‘Best Bank 2016’ at the first Pakistan Banking Awards[6] held under the auspices of the Institute of Bankers Pakistan. The ‘Best Bank’ category recognizes a bank that has demonstrated the most significant contribution to national development and the most effective management of its resources including its employees, clients, franchise, community, and financials.

Also in 2016, JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited (JCR-VIS) has upgraded the entity ratings of United Bank Limited (UBL) to ‘AAA/A-1+’ (Triple A/A-One Plus).[7] The year also saw the UBL Facebook page exceeding 1 Million likes,[8] making it the first Pakistani bank to cross a million fans on Facebook. The achievement reinforces its reputation as a Progressive and Innovative bank.

UBL has become the only bank to win the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) “Top Companies of the Year” Award for three consecutive years (2016-18). The awards for the three years, were presented at a ceremony held in Karachi recently. The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Imran Khan, who was the Chief Guest at the event, gave away the awards. Ms. Sima Kamil, former President and CEO UBL, received the awards from the Prime Minister Mr. Imran Khan, on behalf of the Bank.[9]

Profitability

United Bank profit during 1HCY20 stood at Rs10.9 billion.[10]

FinCEN

United Bank was named in FinCEN leak, published by Buzzfeed News and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). It had eight suspicious transactions flagged.[11]

Other subsidiaries

See also

References
  1. "UBL Annual Report 2015" (PDF). UBLDirect.com. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  2. Reporter, The Newspaper's Staff (2020-09-04). "HBL, NBP, UBL declared important banks". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  3. "Pakistan to raise $387 m by selling UBL". The Express Tribune.
  4. "Allied Bank's privatisation". Dawn.
  5. "UBL to voluntarily shut down its New York branch". The Express Tribune.
  6. "UBL adjudged best at first Pakistan Banking Awards".
  7. "UBL ratings upgraded".
  8. "UBL among world top Facebook pages for banks".
  9. "UBL wins PSX Award for three consecutive years". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
  10. Reporter, The Newspaper's Staff (2020-08-07). "United Bank earns Rs10.9bn". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  11. Report, Monitoring (2020-09-21). "Six Pakistani banks named in FinCEN leak". Profit by Pakistan Today. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
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