United Bank Limited

UBL Headquarter at night

UBL street view

Agha Hasan Abedi founded the bank in November 1958 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[4] 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.

The bank has transformed itself from a loss-making public sector entity into a profitable private enterprise. Profit before tax has grown from US$48 million in December 2002 to US$206.5 million in December 2010.

In August 2003, UBL launched Pakistan's first derivative money market product.[5] In 2005, the bank acquired the status of Authorised Derivative Dealer – the only domestic bank to achieve this status.[5] It is also the first institution from Pakistan & third in South Asia to be accredited with Primary Membership of International Swaps & Derivatives Association.

In 2005 for the third consecutive year the CFA Association of Pakistan conferred upon UBL's Investment Banking Group the "Largest Corporate Finance House" award.

In February 2005 UBL became the first bank in South Asia to launch the EMV enabled credit card. In June 2005 with the launch of "UBL Money", a fixed instalment personal loan product, UBL became the only bank in Pakistan to provide a complete suite of consumer financing products. In August 2005 UBL became the first bank to achieve the "Authorised Derivatives Dealer" status in Pakistan.

In June 2007 the Global Depository Receipts of UBL were listed on the London Stock Exchange. The offering targeted institutional investors and raised in excess of US$650 million.[6] UBL is the only Pakistani bank and one of the only two Pakistani companies that are listed on the London Stock Exchange.[7]

In April 2010, UBL launched UBL Omni,[8] an in-house developed project designed to provide banking facilities to the unbanked population of Pakistan. As of June 2014 UBL Omni had a customer base in excess of 6.8 million, with over 1.5 million active cards in issue and 5 million monthly transactions valued at over US$253 million.[9] Through the success of UBL Omni 1.55 million previously unbanked individuals have opened mobile bank accounts with UBL in Pakistan.[9] Today, Omni Dukaan network has grown to 42,100 agents in Pakistan.[10]

As of December 2010 the bank's asset base had increased to US$8.5 billion, with UBL emerging as the second largest private bank in Pakistan.

In January 2011 Choudrey played an instrumental role in the Group's decision to increase its shareholding in (UBL)[11] to 51.07% by acquiring an additional 20% of the shares from the Abu Dhabi Group.[12] This was a total investment of US$230.0 million in Pakistan's second largest private commercial bank.[13][14]

The Bank added 200 branches in 2011 and 2012, thus increasing its domestic network to over 1,300 online branches[15] with 800 ATMs.

In June 2012, UBL led consortium acquired 67.4% stake in Khushhali Bank, which is the largest micro-finance institution in Pakistan.[16]

In December 2013, the Group, increased its shareholding in UBL to 61.37% by acquiring an additional 10.3% of the shares from the Abu Dhabi Group.[17] Through an investment of over $120 million, the Group acquired the entire shareholding of its former joint venture partner the Abu Dhabi Group.[18]

In June 2014, the Government of Pakistan sold its remaining 20% stake in UBL for US$387 million. This was Pakistan's first transaction in the global equity market in almost eight years.[19]

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).[20]

In November 2018, UBL announced that it was voluntarily shutting down its New York City branch due to it being commercially nonviable to operate.[21]

United Bank profit during 1HCY20 stood at Rs10.9 billion.[22]

Today, UBL has over 1,300 branches in Pakistan, a significant presence throughout the Middle East, subsidiaries in UK and Switzerland, a branch in New York and representative offices in Beijing and Kazakhstan.

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.

In May 2016, UBL was adjudged ‘Best Bank 2016’ at the first Pakistan Banking Awards[23] 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).[24] The year also saw the UBL Facebook page exceeding 1 Million likes,[25] 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.[26]

United Bank was named in the FinCEN Files, published by BuzzFeed News and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). It had eight suspicious transactions from 2011 to 2012 flagged, totaling to $399,620.[27]

• UBL Fund Managers Limited
• UBL Insurers Limited
• UBL OMNI

• United Bank Limited cricket team

• UBL Digital App