The story
Founded by Sayajirao Gaekwad III in 1908, in Vadodara.1
In 1908, Prince Sayajirao Gaekwad III, set up the Bank of Baroda (BoB), with other stalwarts of industry such as Sampatrao Gaekwad, Ralph Whitenack, Vithaldas Thakersey, Lallubhai Samaldas, Tulsidas Kilachand and NM Chokshi. Two years later, BoB established its first branch in Ahmedabad. The bank grew domestically until after World War II. Then in 1953, it crossed the Indian Ocean to serve the communities of Indians in Kenya and Indians in Uganda by establishing a branch each in Mombasa and Kampala. The next year, it opened a second branch in Kenya, in Nairobi, and in 1956, it opened a branch in Tanzania at Dar-es-Salaam. In 1957, BoB established a branch in London. In 1958, BoB acquired Hind Bank (Calcutta; est. 1943), which became BoB's first domestic acquisition.
1960s
In 1961, BoB acquired New Citizen Bank of India, which expanded its branch network in Maharashtra. BoB also opened a branch in Fiji. The next year, it opened a branch in Mauritius
In 1963, BoB acquired Surat Banking Corporation in Surat, Gujarat. The next year, BoB acquired two banks: Umbergaon People's Bank in southern Gujarat and Tamil Nadu Central Bank in Tamil Nadu state.
In 1965, BoB opened a branch in Guyana. That same year, BoB lost its branch in Narayanganj (East Pakistan) due to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. In 1967, the Tanzanian government nationalised BoB's three branches there at (Dar es Salaam, Mwanga, and Moshi), and transferred their operations to the Tanzanian government-owned National Banking Corporation.
In 1969, the Indian government nationalised 14 top banks, including BoB. BoB incorporated its operations in Uganda as a 51% subsidiary, with the government owning the rest.
1970s
In 1972, BoB acquired Bank of India's operations in Uganda. Two years later, BoB opened a branch each in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Back in India, in 1975, BoB acquired the majority shareholding and management control of Bareilly Corporation Bank (est. 1954) and Nainital Bank (est. in 1922), both in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, respectively. Since then, Nainital Bank has expanded to Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Delhi state. BoB currently has 99% shareholding in Nainital Bank.
International expansion continued in 1976 with the opening of a branch in Oman and another in Brussels. The Brussels branch was aimed at Indian firms from Mumbai (Bombay) engaged in diamond cutting and jewellery having business in Antwerp, a major centre for diamond cutting.
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Two years later, BoB opened a branch in New York and another in the Seychelles. Then in 1979, BoB opened a branch in Nassau, the Bahamas.
1980s
In 1980, BoB opened a branch in Bahrain and a representative office in Sydney, Australia. BoB, Union Bank of India, and Indian Bank established IUB International Finance, a licensed deposit taker, in Hong Kong. Each of the three banks took an equal share. Eventually in 1999, BoB would buy out its partners.
A second consortium or joint-venture bank followed in 1985. BoB (20%), Bank of India (20%), Central Bank of India (20%) and ZIMCO (Zambian government; 40%) established Indo-Zambia Bank in Lusaka. That same year, BoB also opened an Offshore Banking Unit (OBU) in Bahrain (Gulf).
Back in India, in 1988, BoB amalgamated Traders Bank (established in 1947 in Delhi), which had a network of 34 branches in Delhi. The Reserve Bank had mandated the amalgamation.
1990s
In 1992, BoB opened an OBU in Mauritius and closed its representative office in Sydney. The next year, BoB took over the London branches of Union Bank of India and Punjab & Sind Bank (P&S). P&S's branch had been established before 1970, and Union Bank's after 1980. The Reserve Bank of India ordered the takeover of the two following the banks' involvement in the Sethia fraud in 1987 and subsequent losses.
In 1996, BoB Bank entered the capital market in December with an initial public offering (IPO). The government of India is still the largest shareholder, owning 66% of the bank's equity.
In 1997, BoB opened a branch in Durban. The next year, BoB bought out its partners in IUB International Finance in Hong Kong. Apparently, this was a response to regulatory changes following Hong Kong's reversion to the People's Republic of China. The now wholly owned subsidiary became Bank of Baroda (Hong Kong), a restricted license bank. BoB also acquired Punjab Cooperative Bank in a rescue. BoB incorporates a wholly–owned subsidiary, BOB Capital Markets, for broking business.
In 1999, BoB merged with Bareilly Corporation Bank as part of another rescue. At the time, Bareilly had 64 branches, including four in Delhi. In Guyana, BoB incorporated its branch as a subsidiary, Bank of Baroda Guyana. BoB added a branch in Mauritius and closed its Harrow Branch in London.
2000s
In 2000, BoB established Bank of Baroda (Botswana). The bank has three banking offices, two in Gaborone and one in Francistown. In 2002, BoB converted its subsidiary in Hong Kong from a deposit-taking company to a Restricted License Bank.
In 2002, BoB acquired Benares State Bank (BSB) at the Reserve Bank of India's request. BSB had been established in 1946 but traced its origins back to 1871 and its function as the treasury office of the Benares state. In 1964, BSB acquired Bareilly Bank (est. 1934), with seven branches in the western districts of Uttar Pradesh; BSB also took over Lucknow Bank in 1968. The acquisition of BSB brought BoB 105 new branches. Lucknow Bank, a unit bank with its only office in Aminabad, was established in 1913. Also in 2002, BoB listed Bank of Baroda (Uganda) on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE). The next year BoB opened an OBU in Mumbai.
In 2004, BoB acquired the failed South Gujarat Local Area Bank. BoB also returned to Tanzania by establishing a subsidiary in Dar-es-Salaam. BoB also opened a representative office each in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Guangdong, China.
In 2005, BoB built a Global Data Centre (DC) in Mumbai for running its centralised banking solution (CBS) and other applications in more than 1,900 branches across India and 20 other countries where the bank operates. BoB also opened a representative office in Thailand.
In 2006, BoB established an Offshore Banking Unit (OBU) in Singapore.
In 2007, its centenary year, BoB's total business crossed 2.09 trillion (short scale), its branches crossed 2000, and its global customer base 29 million people. In Hong Kong, the Bank got a Full Fledged Banking license, and the business of its Restricted License Banking subsidiary was taken over by the Bank of Baroda branch in Hong Kong w.e.f. 01-04-2007.
On 02-08-2008, BoB opened a branch in Guangzhou, China and in Kenton, Harrow, United Kingdom. BoB opened a joint venture life insurance company with Andhra Bank and Legal & General (UK) called IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company.
In 2009, Bank of Baroda (New Zealand) was registered. As of 2017 BoB (NZ) has three branches: two in Auckland and one in Wellington.
2010s
In 2010, Malaysia awarded a commercial banking licence to a locally incorporated bank to be jointly owned by Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank, and Andhra Bank.
In 2011, BoB opened an Electronic Banking Service Unit (EBSU) at Hamriya Free Zone, Sharjah (UAE). It also opened four new branches in existing operations in Uganda, Kenya (2), and Guyana. BoB closed its representative office in Malaysia in anticipation of the opening of its consortium bank there. BoB received 'In Principle' approval for the upgrading of its representative office in Australia to a branch. Bob also acquired Mumbai-based Memon Cooperative Bank, which had 225 employees and 15 branches in Maharashtra and three in Gujarat. It had to suspend operations in May-2009 due to its precarious financial condition.
The Malaysian consortium bank, India International Bank Malaysia (IIBM), finally opened in Kuala Lumpur, which has a large population of Indians. BOB owns 40%, Andhra Bank owns 25%, and IOB owns the remaining 35% of the share capital. IIBM seeks to open five branches within its first year of operations in Malaysia, and intends to grow to 15 branches within the next three years.
On 17-September-2018, the Union of India proposed the merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with the Bank of Baroda, pending approval from the boards of the three banks, effectively creating the third largest lender in the country. The merger was approved by the Union Cabinet and the boards of the banks on 02-January-2019. Under the terms of the merger, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank shareholders received 110 and 402 equity shares of the Bank of Baroda, respectively, of face value ₹2 for every 1,000 shares they held. The merger came into effect on 01-April-2019. Post-merger, the Bank of Baroda is the third largest bank in India, after State Bank of India and HDFC Bank. The consolidated entity has over 9,500 branches, 13,400 ATMs, 85,000 employees, and serves 120 million customers. The amalgamation is the first-ever three-way consolidation of banks in the country, with a combined business of Rs14.82 trillion (short scale), making it the third largest bank after State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank. Post-merger effective 01-April-2019, the bank has become the India's third largest lender behind SBI and ICICI Bank.
Bank of Baroda announced in May-2019 that it would either close or rationalise 800–900 branches to increase operational efficiency and reduce duplication post-merger. The regional and zonal offices of the merged companies would also be closed. PTI quoted an unnamed senior bank official as stating that Bank of Baroda would look to expand in eastern India as it already had a strong presence in the other regions.
From Wikipedia’s article on Bank of Baroda, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5