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Banks are one of the most significant institutions for the development of the country. They are economic institutions that help their customers in depositing, lending and directing the money. As a part of it, banks act as an intermediary between the various sections of the society in collecting money from people who don’t need it and lending money to those who need it. India has some of the leading banks in the world. One such is the United Commercial Bank (UCO) which has its Indian branch headquarters in BTM Sarani, Kolkata. It is considered as one of the leading and nationalised banks present in the country.
UCO Bank
The United Commercial Bank (UCO) is one of the leading nationalised banks of India. Being a public sector bank, the bank provides all kinds of banking and financial services to its customers. During the recent estimates, the estimated total business of the UCO bank was calculated at 3.24 lakh crore.
Interestingly, in the FORBES India list, UCO Bank was deemed at 80th position which is quite a decent position in the 2020 data released by FORBES. Further, from a global perspective, the bank was placed at the 1948th position out of the 2000 businesses of that time. Currently, the bank has overseas branches in Singapore, Hong Kong and India.
History of UCO Bank
The United Commercial Bank had its arrival in India on January 6, 1943. In a general sense, the idea was given by Ghanshyam Das Birla, who is one of the most distinguished Indian industrialists of all time. After the Quit India movement, Birla got an idea to organise a commercial bank that could fulfil the thriving needs of the people in India and manage the capital that India had. So, for this, he chose United Commercial Bank.
It was decided to have its headquarters in Kolkata with a paid-up capital of INR 1 crore, from the already issued capital of about INR 2 crores. The vision had Birla as its chairman and many other popular industrialists and personalities as its Board of Directors. After the time of WWII, the bank grew its stems with various branches across the world. The first of these branches was Rangoon, set up in 1947. Next ones were Hong Kong, Singapore, London and Malaysia.
Inspired by the prominence, the UCO Bank then set up its nationalised banks in Burma as well, where it was said to be at 6th position in the people’s choice awards. It was 1967 when the voluntary transfer of some companies started. Initially, it was the Jalpaiguri Banking and Trading Corporation that voluntarily gave away all its assets and liabilities to the UCO Bank. JBTC was a small company with one office that specialised itself in delivering money to the people in necessity against the mortgages as tea gardens.
When was it that UCO Bank got nationalised and how did it get this name? It was on 19 July 1969 when the Indian government decided to nationalise the UCO Bank and make it a public sector bank. Further, the name change scenario came in 1985 when an act of parliament was called upon to change the name to UCO, due to the confusion that was created by a different bank in Bangladesh, called up by the same name as United Commercial Bank.
UCO’s Vision and Mission
The absolute vision of this bank is to arise as one of the most trusted financial institutions of all time. It wants to ensure that it is the most preferred destination of its customers for their banking needs. Further, their mission is to attain a top-class rank with their efforts on sustained growth and increasing profitability. Accomplishing Superiority in customer service, up-gradation in the abilities of its members, fulfilling the important socio-economic responsibilities and beneficial participation is their impression towards sustained growth.
Structure of UCO Bank
Board of Directors of UCO
By the estimates of August 2021, the BOD committee of the UCO Bank has about six members. Currently, we have Atul Kumar Goel as its managing director and CEO. Then we save for Ajay Vyas and Ishraq Ali Khan for the position of executive director of the Bank. Last of all, the director committee is clenched by three well-known identities namely, K.Rajivan Nair, Dr. Sanjay Kumar and Dr. Tuli Roy.
Training colleges across India
There are about seven training colleges across the whole nation. Firstly we have Central Staff College in Kolkata. Then we have numerous Regional training centres in the major city areas of Bhopal, Jaipur, Chennai, Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar, Durgapur, Ahmedabad.
UCO’s Logo and Motto
The logo of the UCO Bank represents its national responsibility towards the nation. It incorporates blue clenched hands surrounded by an octagonal figure. Interestingly, the blue colour in the logo signifies its duty towards the nation and its citizens. Honouring the trust of the people is the basic motto of the United Commercial Bank.
Conclusion
With the presence of such able competitors like Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and the HDFC Bank, the UCO bank is still able to make its presence in the minds of the people of India. But recent years have seen the private banks expand their spectrum which might prove disadvantageous to the public-sector Banks in India and across the entire world. In addition, the introduction of various liberalisation policies will only increase the competition for the Banks making it difficult to handle the pressure.
