# Allahabad Bank

Allahabad Bank was an Indian nationalised bank with its headquarters in Kolkata, India. Founded in Allahabad in 1865 and nationalized by the government of India in 1969, the bank provided banking and financial services for 155 years until it was merged with Indian Bank in 2020. It was the oldest still running joint stock bank in India until its merger.
As of 31 March 2018, Allahabad Bank had over 3245 branches across India. The bank did a total business of ₹3.8 trillion during the FY 2017–18. The bank's market capitalisation in June 2018 was US$573 million and ranked #1,882 on the Forbes Global 2000 list.

## 19th century

On 24 April 1865, a group of Europeans founded Allahabad Bank in Allahabad. By the end of the 19th century it had branches at Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Nainital, Calcutta, and Delhi.

## 20th century

In the early 20th century, with the start of Swadeshi movement, Allahabad Bank witnessed a spurt in deposits. In 1920, P & O Banking Corporation acquired Allahabad Bank with a bid price of ₹436 (US$5.20) per share. In 1923 the bank moved its head office and the registered office to Calcutta for reasons of both operational convenience and business opportunities. Then in 1927 Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China (Chartered Bank) acquired P&O Bank. However, Chartered Bank continued to operate Allahabad Bank as a separate entity.
Allahabad Bank opened a branch in Rangoon (Yangon). At some point, Chartered Bank amalgamated Allahabad Bank's branch in Rangoon with its own. In 1963 the revolutionary government in Burma nationalized the Chartered Bank's operations there, which became People's Bank No. 2.
On 19 July 1969, the Indian government nationalised Allahabad Bank, along with 13 other banks.
In October 1989, Allahabad Bank acquired United Industrial Bank, a Calcutta-based bank that had been established in 1940 and that brought with it 145 branches. Two years later, Allahabad Bank established AllBank Finance Ltd, a wholly owned merchant banking subsidiary.

## 21st century

Its older logo, a monogram consisting of "A" and "B", was replaced by the current 'Triveni Sangam' logo circa 1997.
The government's ownership of Allahabad Bank shrank in October 2002 after the bank engaged in an initial public offering (IPO) of ₹100 million (US$1.2 million) of shares, each with a face value ₹10. The IPO reduced the Government's shareholding to 71.16%. Then in April 2005 the bank conducted a second public offering of ₹100 million shares, each with a face value ₹10 and selling at a premium of ₹72. This offering reduced the Government's ownership to 55.23%.
In June 2006, the bank opened its first office outside India when it opened a representative office in Shenzhen, Mainland China. In February 2007, Allahabad Bank opened its first overseas branch, in Hong Kong. In March, the bank's business crossed the ₹10 million mark.
On 30 August 2019, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that Allahabad Bank would merge with Indian Bank. The merger would create the seventh largest public sector bank in the country with assets of ₹8.08 trillion (US$97 billion). The Union Cabinet approved the merger on 4 March 2020. Indian Bank assumed control of Allahabad Bank on 1 April 2020.

## Listings and shareholding

Allahabad Bank's equity shares were listed on Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.
| Shareholders (as on 31 March 2014) | Shareholding |
| Promoter Group (Government of India) | 64.80% |
| Indian FIs/MFs | 16.60% |
| Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) | 03.20% |
| Resident Indians | 08.80% |
| Others | 06.60% |
| Total | 100.0% |

## Employees

As of 31 March 2013, the bank had 22,557 employees, out of which 3,293 were women (15%). Out of the total employees, 51% were officers, 30% were clerks and the remaining 19% were subordinate staff. The bank recruited 1,950 employees (1,421 Officers, 390 Clerks and 139 subordinate staff) during the same financial year. The company incurred ₹20 billion on employee benefit expenses during the same financial year. During the FY 2013–14, the business per employee was ₹13.50 million and it earned a net profit of ₹0.477 million per employee.
The bank was operating in the following states/UTs.
* Andaman And Nicobar Island
* Andhra Pradesh
* Arunachal Pradesh
* Assam
* Bihar
* Chandigarh
* Chhattisgarh
* Delhi
* Goa
* Gujarat
* Haryana
* Himachal Pradesh
* Jammu And Kashmir
* Jharkhand
* Karnataka
* Kerala
* Madhya Pradesh
* Maharashtra
* Manipur
* Meghalaya
* Nagaland
* Odisha
* Puducherry
* Punjab
* Rajasthan
* Sikkim
* Tamil Nadu
* Telangana
* Tripura
* Uttar Pradesh
* Uttarakhand
* West Bengal

## Scams

On 13 July 2019, Allahabad Bank disclosed that it detected a fraud, worth ₹17.7482 billion (US$213 million) by Bhushan Power & Steel (BPSL).
The bank also detected another fraud of ₹6.8827 billion (US$82 million) by SEL Manufacturing Ltd., a Ludhiana-based textile company on 17 July 2019.