Indian Overseas Bank

Overview

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) was founded on February 10, 1937 by Shri. M. Ct. M. Chidambaram Chettyar, a pioneer in many fields such as, Banking, Insurance and Industry with the twin objectives of specializing in foreign exchange business and overseas banking. IOB had the unique distinction of commencing business in 10th February 1937 (on the inaugural day itself) in three branches simultaneously - at Karaikudi and Chennai in India and Rangoon in Burma (presently Myanmar) followed by a branch in Penang. The Products & Services of the bank includes NRI Services, Personal Banking, Forex Services, Agri Business Consultancy, Credit Cards, Any Branch Banking and ATM Banking. Saga of the IOB is covered into four categories, such as Pre-nationalisation era (1947- 69), at the time of Nationalisation (1969), Post - nationalisation era (1969-1992) and Post-Reform Period - Unprecedented developments (1992 & after). In Pre-nationalisation Era (1947- 69), IOB expanded its domestic activities and enlarged its international banking operations. As early as in 1957, the Bank established a training centre, which has now grown into a Staff College at Chennai with 9 training centres all over the country. IOB was the first Bank to venture into consumer credit. It introduced the popular Personal Loan scheme during this period. In 1964, the Bank made a beginning in computerisation in the areas of inter-branch reconciliation and provident fund accounts. In 1968, IOB established a full-fledged department to cater exclusively to the needs of the Agriculture sector. IOB was one of the 14 major banks that was nationalised in 1969. On the eve of Nationalisation in 1969, IOB had 195 branches in India with aggregate deposits of Rs. 67.70 Crore and Advances of Rs. 44.90 Crore. In Post - nationalisation era (1969-1992), during the year 1973, IOB had to wind up its five Malaysian branches as the Banking Law in Malaysia prohibited operation of foreign government owned banks. This led to creation of United Asian Bank Berhad in which IOB had 16.67% of the paid up capital. In the same year Bharat Overseas Bank Ltd was created in India with 30% equity participation from IOB to take over IOB's branch at Bangkok in Thailand. In 1977, IOB opened its branch in Seoul and the Bank opened a Foreign Currency Banking Unit in the free trade zone in Colombo in 1979. The Bank sponsored 3 Regional Rural Banks viz. Puri Gramya Bank, Pandyan Grama Bank and Dhenkanal Gramya Bank. The Bank had setup a separate Computer Policy and Planning Department (CPPD) to implement the programme of computerisation, to develop software packages on its own and to impart training to staff members in this field. In the year 1988, IOB acquired Bank of Tamil Nadu in a rescue. In Post-Reform Period - Unprecedented developments (1992 & after), IOB formulated its Web site during the month of February in 1997. The Bank got autonomous status during the year 1997-98. IOB had the distinction of being the first Bank in Banking Industry to obtain ISO 9001 Certification for its Computer Policy and Planning Department from Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Netherlands in September 1999. IOB started its STAR services in December of the year 1999 for speedy realisation of outstation cheques. Now the Banks has 14 STARS centres and one Controlling Centre for providing this service and in the same year started tapping the potential of Internet by enabling ABB cardholders in Delhi to pay their telephone bills by just logging on to MTNL web site and by authorising the Bank to debit towards the telephone bills. The Bank made a successful debut in raising capital from the public during the financial year 2000-01, despite a subdued capital market. IOB bagged the NABARD's award for credit linking the highest number of Self Help Groups for 2000-2001 among the Banks in Tamil Nadu. Mobile banking under SMS technology was implemented in Ahmedabad and Baroda. Pilot run of Phase I of the Internet Banking commenced covering 34 branches in 5 Metropolitan centres. IOB was one among the first to join Reserve Bank of India's negotiated dealing system for security dialing online. The Bank has finalised an e-commerce strategy and has developed the necessary Internet banking modules in-house. For the first time a Total Branch Automation package developed in-house has been customised in one of the Overseas Branches of the Bank. Most software developed in-house. During the year 2002-03, a new credit scheme Shubh Yatra' was introduced to provide loans to those who undertake foreign travel for tourism, employment and medical treatment. During the year 2004, the Government OF India selected IOB for channelising government credit to other countries, which runs into billions of dollars. And also in the same year the bank made tie up with Times Online Money to launch an Internet-based remittance product, e-Cash Home, targeted at NRIs in the US wishing to transfer money to India. IOB made pact with Chola for MF products. During the year 2005, the bank joined hands with Visa to offer debit cards to its esteemed customers. In the year 2006, IOB inked MoU with CRI Pumps. In September 2006, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has finally taken control of Bharat Overseas Bank (BhOB), an unlisted private bank. This is the first instance of a public sector bank taking over a strong private sector bank without resorting to the moratorium route. During May of the year 2007, Indian rating agency ICRA assigned an 'A1+' rating to the proposed 20 bln rupee certificates of deposit programme of Indian Overseas Bank, citing the bank's consistent and measured growth, the improvement in its asset quality through effective monitoring and collection systems, and improving core profitability. During June of the year 2008, IOB launched two new products namely IOB Gold' and IOB Silver' in savings account and IOB Classic' and IOB Super' under current account. In the year 2010-11, the bank has signed a joint venture agreement with Bank of Baroda and Andhra Bank to open a Banking subsidiary in Malaysia. The Joint Venture has been duly incorporated at Malaysia on 13.08.2010 by name 'India International Bank (Malaysia) Ltd.' BHD and the banking joint venture has started functioning from July 2012. Bank opened 19 Rapid Retail Centres, 9 MSME Processing Centres and 8 City Back Offices during the year 2013-14. As at the end of March 2014, the Bank had 13 establishments abroad, including 7 overseas branches, 3 Representative offices, 2 Remittance Centres and 1 Joint Venture Subsidiary. There are two branches each at Hong Kong and at Sri Lanka and one each at Singapore, South Korea and Bangkok. During the year 2014, 16,365 new loan accounts aggregating to Rs. 879 crores were covered under the Credit Guarantee Scheme of CGTMSE. During FY2014, the Bank introduced IOB SME Debit Cards with unique features for the benefit of SME borrowers. The Bank launched IOB SME Contractor Scheme, exclusively for contractors with credit limits up to Rs. 5 crores. IOB SME ADD ON scheme was introduced to enable the existing MSME borrowers to get their additional term loan requirement up to Rs. 25 lacs at the branch level itself, thereby making the credit available without delay. IOB MICRO ONE scheme launched earlier has been quite successful with nearly 2150 new Micro sector borrowers were financed under the scheme. IOB SME Kanaka Scheme, which was earlier a regional specific scheme, was extended to all regions during the year. The Bank also extended concessional credit terms for purchase of new Ambassador Cars and Swift- Dezire cars under Taxis Replacement Scheme by Government of West Bengal. The Bank entered into an MOU with Bharatiya Yuva Shakthi Trust (BYST), Chamber of Indian Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (CIMSME) and Women Entrepreneurs Welfare Association-Tamil Nadu (WEWA) for credit facilitation. The Bank entered in to MoU with Naturals, for financing the franchisees of their Spa Saloons under the SIDBI Loan Facilitation Service (LFS). Bank expects to utilize these arrangements in the best manner to boost credit to MSME sector. During FY 2014, the Bank has opened 21,94,854 Basic Savings Bank Deposit Accounts taking the total number of such accounts to 59,21,110. So far, Bank has issued 11,05,215 smart cards and the number of transactions undertaken in the smart card terminal is 1,28,66,639. During FY 2015-16, the Bank issued 48,56,17,597 equity shares of Rs.10/- each for cash at issue price of Rs.41.37 per equity share (including premium of Rs.31.37 per equity share) aggregating upto Rs.2009 crore to Government of India on Preferential Basis and 8,62,99,771 equity shares of Rs.10/- each for cash at issue price of Rs.23.45 per equity share (including premium of Rs.13.45 per equity share) aggregating upto Rs.202.37 crore to Life Insurance Corporation of India on Preferential Basis. During FY 2015-16, the Bank opened 34 branches across the country. Out of these, 26 branches (76.47%) are located in Rural and Semi Urban centres, of which 8 branches are located in Unbanked Rural Centres. As on 31st March 2016, the Bank had 3,397 domestic branches, comprising of 1,036 rural branches (30.50%), 960 Semi Urban branches (28.26%), 748 urban branches (22.02%) and 653 Metropolitan branches (19.22%). Besides, the Bank has 7 Zonal Offices, 49 Regional Offices, 41 Rapid Retail Centres, 4 Extension Counters, 20 Satellite Offices, 14 City Back Offices, 18 MSME Processing Centres and 6 Inspectorates. During the year 2015, the Bank has closed 10 Regional Offices, 3 specialized financial inclusion branches, 15 specialized mid corporate branches and 26 City Back Offices with a view to rationalize administrative costs. As at the end of March 2016, the Bank had 14 establishments abroad, including 8 overseas branches, 3 Representative offices, 2 Remittance Centres and 1 Joint Venture Subsidiary. There are two branches each at Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Bangkok and one each at Singapore and South Korea. Representative offices are located at Guangzhou, China, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and Al Karama, Dubai. Remittance Centres operate at Boonlay and Serangoon, Singapore. During the year 2016, the Bank signed MoU with Tamil Nadu Small Industries Development Corporation, M/s Ashok Leyland Limited & M/s Auto Print Machinery Pvt Limited with an objective to provide more offerings to MSME customers. During the FY 2016-17, the Bank issued 9,17,48,448 equity shares of Rs.10/- each for cash at issue price of Rs.28.55 per equity share (including premium of Rs.18.55 per equity share) aggregating upto Rs.261.94 crore on QIP basis and 55,57,14,797 equity shares of Rs.10/- each for cash at issue price of Rs.27.91 per equity share (including premium of Rs.17.91 per equity share) aggregating upto Rs.1,551 crore to Government of India on Preferential Basis. During the year 2016-17, the Bank opened 9 branches across the country. Out of these, 5 branches (55.55%) are located in Rural and Semi Urban centres, of which 3 branches are located in Unbanked Rural Centers. As on 31st March 2017, the Bank had 3,373 domestic branches, comprising of 922 rural branches (27.33%), 1001 Semi Urban branches (29.67%), 692 urban branches (20.51%) and 758 Metropolitan branches (22.47%). During the year 2017-18, the Bank issued 39,78,30,018 equity shares of Rs.10/- each for cash at issue price of Rs.27.65 per equity share (including premium of Rs.17.65 per equity share) aggregating upto Rs.1,100 crores to Government of India on Preferential Basis on 31 August 2017 for the capital infusion received from Government of India on 16 March 2017 and 203,82,11,029 equity shares of Rs.10/- each for cash at issue price of Rs.23.03 per equity share (including premium of Rs.13.03 per equity share) aggregating upto Rs.4,694 crores to Government of India on Preferential Basis on 28 March 2018. The Bank issued 137,30,10,821 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at issue price of Rs 15.71 per equity share (including premium of Rs 5.71 per equity share) aggregating to Rs 2,157 crores to Government of India on Preferential Basis on 12 November 2018 for the capital infusion received from Government of India on 23 July 2018 and 269,54,67,422 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at issue price of Rs 14.12 per equity share (including premium of Rs 4.12 per equity share) aggregating to Rs 3,806 crores to Government of India on Preferential Basis on 28 March 2019 for the capital infusion received from Government of India on 21 February 2019. During the fiscal 2019, Total deposits of the bank stood at Rs 2,22,534 crore as against Rs 2,16,832 crore as on 31 March 2018. The bank's Gross Advances stood at Rs 1,51,996 crore as on 31st March 2019, as against Rs 1,50,999 crore in the previous year. During the quarter ended December 2018, the Bank had raised Basel III Compliant Tier II bonds aggregating Rs 300 crore on private placement basis at a coupon rate of 11.70% with tenor of 10 years. The Bank has 3,280 domestic branches and 3450 ATMs as on 31st March 2019, comprising of 914 rural branches (27.87%), 965 Semi Urban branches (29.42%), 669 Urban branches (20.40%) and 732 Metropolitan branches (22.32%). The Bank also has 7 Zonal Offices, 48 Regional Offices, 3 Extension Counters, 2 Satellite Offices, 3 City Back Offices and 6 Zonal Audit Offices. During the year under review, the Bank has closed 53 branches and opened one branch. The Central Vigilance Commission has awarded the Bank with 'Vigilance Innovation Award 2018' with an Excellent Grade for various initiatives taken in the Bank. The bank has been awarded Winner for 'Reforms Excellence' among all Public Sector Banks at the event organized by IBA at Delhi on 28.02.2019. The bank was ranked 5th position as on March 2019 under EASE 1.0 (FY 2018-19) with 75% score among PSBs. During the fiscal 2020, Total deposits of the bank stood at Rs 2,22,952 crore as against Rs 2,22,534 crore as on 31 March 2019. The bank's Gross Advances stood at Rs 1,34,771 crore as on 31st March 2020, as against Rs 1,51,996 crore in the previous year. For the capital infusion by Government of India during 2019-20, the Bank issued a) 344,37,50,000 equity shares of Rs.10/- each for cash at issue price of Rs.11.20 per equity share (including premium of Rs.1.20 per equity share) aggregating to Rs.3,857 Crore to Government of India on Preferential Basis on 28.11.2019 for the capital infusion received from Government of India on 27.09.2019 and b) 385,15,90,106 equity shares of Rs.10/- each for cash at issue price of 11.32 per equity share (including premium of Rs.1.32 per equity share) aggregating to Rs.4,360 crore to Government of India on Preferential Basis on 27.02.2020 for the capital infusion received from Government of India on 03.01.2020. During the quarter ended 30.09.2019, the Bank had raised Basel III Compliant Tier II bonds aggregating Rs.500 Crore on private placement basis at a coupon rate of 9.08% with tenor of 10 years. The Bank has 3,270 domestic Branches and 3032 ATMs as on 31st March 2020, comprising of 912 Rural Branches (27.89%), 960 Semi Urban Branches (29.36%), 670 Urban Branches (20.49%) and 728 Metropolitan Branches (22.26%). The Bank also has 7 Zonal Offices, 48 Regional Offices, 2 Extension Counters, 2 Satellite Offices, 3 City Back Offices and 6 Zonal Audit Offices. During the year under review (FY 2019- 20), the Bank has merged 10 Branches with other existing branches. The Bank has 6 establishments abroad, including 4 Overseas Branches, 1 Remittance Center and 1 Joint Venture Subsidiary as on 31 March 2020. The Bank has one Branch each at Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Colombo and one Remittance Centre at Serangoon, Singapore. The Joint Venture subsidiary India International Bank (Malaysia) Berhad is functioning at Malaysia. The Bank has 3,217 domestic Branches and 1927 ATMs as on 31st March, 2021, comprising of 902 rural branches, 961 Semi Urban branches, 654 urban branches and 702 Metropolitan branches. The Bank also has 48 Regional Offices, 3 Extension Counters, 1 Satellite Office, 3 City Back Offices and 6 Nodal Audit Offices. Presently, the Bank has its overseas presence in 4 countries Singapore, Hongkong, Thailand and Sri Lanka. The Bank has 6 establishments abroad, including 4 Overseas Branches, 1 Remittance Center and 1 Joint Venture Subsidiary as on 31st March 2022. The Bank has one Branch each at Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Colombo and one Remittance Centre at Serangoon, Singapore. The Bank has 3,214 domestic Branches and 3,355 ATMS as on 31st March, 2022, comprising of 902 rural branches, 961 Semi Urban branches, 653 urban branches and 698 Metropolitan branches. The Bank also has 48 Regional Offices, 3 Extension Counters, 1 Satellite Office, 3 City Back Offices and 6 Nodal Audit Offices. Presently, the Bank has its overseas presence in 4 countries Singapore, Hongkong, Thailand and Sri Lanka. During the year 2021-22, the Bank has merged 3 Branches with other existing branches. The Bank has 6 establishments abroad, including 4 Overseas Branches, 1 Remittance Center and 1 Joint Venture Subsidiary as on 31st March 2022. The Bank has one Branch each at Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Colombo and one Remittance Centre at Serangoon, Singapore. The Bank has 3,220 domestic Branches and 3,355 ATMS as on 31st March, 2023, comprising of 906 rural branches, 961 Semi Urban branches, 655 urban branches and 698 Metropolitan branches. The Bank also has 49 Regional Offices, 2 Extension Counters, 1 Satellite Office, 3 City Back Offices and 6 Nodal Audit Offices. Presently, the Bank has its overseas presence in 4 countries Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Sri Lanka. During the year 2022-23, the Bank opened 4 Rural Branches, 2 Digital Banking Units & One Regional Office. The Bank has 3,236 domestic Branches and 3,506 ATMS as on 31st March, 2024, comprising of 910 rural branches, 967 Semi Urban branches, 659 urban branches and 700 Metropolitan branches. The Bank also has 49 Regional Offices, 2 Extension Counters, 1 Satellite Office, 2 City Back Offices, 1 Retail Loan Processing Centre and 6 Nodal Audit Offices. Presently, the Bank has its overseas presence in 4 countries Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Sri Lanka. During the year 2023-24, the Bank opened 4 Rural Branches, 7 Semi-Urban Branches, 3 Urban Branches, 2 Metropolitan Branches and 1 Retail Loan Processing Centre. The Bank has 5 establishments abroad, including 4 Overseas Branches, and 1 Joint Venture Subsidiary as on 31st March 2024. The Bank has one Branch each at Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Colombo. India International Bank (Malaysia) Berhad - a Joint Venture of Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank and Union Bank of India, is functioning in Malaysia. The Bank has 3,335 domestic branches and 3,497 ATMS as on 31st March, 2025, comprising of 929 rural branches, 1011 Semi Urban branches, 681 urban branches and 714 Metropolitan branches. The Bank also has 53 Regional Offices, 2 Extension Counters, 1 Satellite Office, 2 City Back Offices, 8 Retail Loan Processing Centre and 6 Nodal Audit Offices. Presently, the Bank has its overseas presence in 4 countriesp: Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Sri Lanka. During the year 2023-24, the Bank opened 4 Rural Branches, 7 Semi-Urban Branches, 3 Urban Branches, 2 Metropolitan Branches and 1 Retail Loan Processing Centre. The Bank has expanded Business Correspondent network to 10,135 in FY 2024-25. Bank opened 101 branches and 7 Retail Loan Processing Centres across the country in FY 24-25. Bank's Total Business increased by Rs.1,16,657 crore to Rs.6,78,614 crore as on March 31, 2026 from Rs.5,61,957 crore in 2025, registering a robust growth of 20.76%. Gross Advances grew by 24.16% to Rs.3,10,423 crore, while Total Deposits grew by 18.03% to Rs.3,68,191 crore, reflecting strong and broad-based business expansion. The Net Interest Income (NII) increased by 15.46% to Rs.12,574 crore, while Operating Profit crossed the landmark Rs.10,000 crore and increased by 15.40% to Rs.10,026 crore. Operating Income increased by 10.80% to Rs.18,210 crore. The Bank expanded its outreach during the year 2026 by adding 163 new branches, 3 Regional Offices, 154 ATM/CRMs, and 2,052 Business Correspondents. The Bank has 3,494 Domestic Branches as on 31st March 2026 as against 3,335 Branches as on 31st March 2025, registering a net addition of 159 branches during the year. During the Financial Year 2025-26, Bank has issued Basel III Tier II Bonds (Series VI) aggregating to Rs.1000 Crore through Private Placement basis subscribed by Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs).