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History
19th century
On 24 April 1865, a group of Englishmen at Allahabad founded Allahabad Bank. By the end of 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 INR436 (US$6.90) 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 acquired P&O Bank. However, Chartered Bank continued to operate Allahabad Bank as a separate entity.
On 19 July 1969, the Government nationalised Allahabad Bank, together with 13 other banks.
In October 1989, Allahabad Bank acquired United Industrial Bank, a Calcutta-based bank that had been established in 1940. Two years later, Allahabad Bank established AllBank Finance Ltd, a wholly owned Merchant Banking subsidiary.
21st century
The government's ownership of Allahabad Bank shrank in October 2002 after the bank engaged in an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of INR10 crore (US$1.6 million) of shares, each with a face value INR10. The IPO reduced the Government's shareholding to 71.16%. Then in April 2005 the bank conducted a second public offering of INR10 crore of shares, each with a face value INR10 and selling at a premium of INR72. 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 Shenzen, Mainland China. In February 2007, Allahabad Bank opened its first overseas branch, in Hong Kong. In March, the bank's business crossed the INR1 million crore mark.