It began with a vision, a vision of unparalleled progress and unmatched excellence true to the spirit of the era! On 7 November 1959, Pakistan witnessed an event that would change the way we banked forever. It was not just the inauguration of UBL’s first branch at I.I. Chundrigar; it was also the birth of the culture of service, a culture of innovation and a culture of financial excellence!
By June 1960, shortly after six months of opening its doors to the public, UBL had branches in:
KarachiDacca LahoreLyallpurChittagong and Narayanganj
In 1963, UBL became the first bank in Pakistan to have a branch overseas- on William Street in London, United Kingdom. True to our promise of providing service and care beyond the ordinary to our customers, UBL and You have had a history. The first saving scheme for school going children was launched as early as 1960 or the formation of Pakistan’s first Staff College of employees in 1964, UBL, through the motivation of its staff and the trust of its customers, continued to grow at a spectacular pace. In 1967, UBL had hit the dawn on information in terms of technology, by introducing computer banking to Pakistan and in 1971, UBL once again paved the way by launching 3 online branches in Karachi. The newly formed state of Pakistan was witnessing the boom of industries and commerce – cannoned by a bank that believed in the potential growth of Pakistan. Small wonder then, by 1978, UBL had a pledged economic department, had acquired two international banks. UBL also launched supervised credit and small loan schemes for small to medium sized firms as well as agriculture and had made for itself, a strong international presence for we had branches in 4 continents.
Throughout its history, UBL has kept pace with- and often exceeded the changing needs of changing times. Keeping the tradition of innovation alive, UBL introduced Pakistan’s first credit card, the UNICARD in 70’s and left its mark by launching the Pak Rupees traveler cheques in 1971. Staying true to its roots, UBL was also the first bank to have an Islamic banking division and the first to introduce e-banking facilities at Hajj.
In the 1990’s the government of Pakistan decided to change the face of banking by creating a blueprint to privatize UBL. At this point, financial experts were called on board to set the bank back on course, and with implementation of relevant changes, the government privatized the bank in the year 2002 – Best way and Al Ayaan collaborated, forming the cornerstone for the UBL of tomorrow.
Today, UBL opens its eyes to a new vision every day, a vision of resurgent excellence and renewed commitment to our customers. 58 years into our glorious history – UBL is now part of one of the world’s largest financial services groups.
United Bank Limited (UBL) is one of Pakistan’s largest banks in the private sector. The bank operates a network of over 1,375 branches across Pakistan and 19 branches overseas. It was declared Pakistan’s Best Bank 2016 at the first Pakistan Banking Awards and the bank’s entity ratings were also recently upgraded to AAA/A-1+. The Bank maintains its leadership in branchless banking through UBL Omni which has an agent network of over 42,000 Dukaans across Pakistan. 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 world class Internet Banking.