United Bank (Pakistan)

Type	Public
Traded as	PSX: UBL
Industry	Finance
Founded	7 November 1959
Founder	Agha Hasan Abedi
Headquarters	Karachi, Pakistan
Key people	Sir Mohammed Anwar Pervez, OBE, HPk - Chairman Ms. Sima Kamil - President & CEO
Products	Commercial Banking, Corporate Banking, Private Banking, Asset Management
Revenue	₨80.65 billion (US$760 million) - 2016[1]
Net income	₨27.73 billion (US$260 million) - 2016[1]
Total assets	₨1.62 trillion (US$15 billion) - 2016[1]
Number of employees	15,000+
Website	www.ubldirect.com

United Bank Limited (UBL) is a Pakistani commercial bank based in Karachi, Pakistan. It is one of the largest bank in the private sector, the Bank operates a network of over 1,390 branches across Pakistan and 19 branches overseas. With a customer base of over 4 million, it leads the banking and financial services sector in Pakistan. Customers across the world have 24/7 access to the bank via UBL's internet banking facilities.

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 a complete array of 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.

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 privatized it to a consortium of Abu Dhabi Group and Bestway.

In 2002, 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.

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 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 state of the art 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^[2] 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).^[3] The year also saw the UBL Facebook page exceeding 1 Million likes,^[4] making it the first Pakistani bank to cross a million fans on Facebook. The achievement reinforces its reputation as a Progressive and Innovative bank.

Other subsidiaries

• UBL Fund Managers Limited
• UBL OMNI

References