Union Bank of India (Union Bank) was registered on 11 November 1919 as a limited company in Mumbai and was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi. At the time of India's Independence in 1947, Union Bank only had four branches - three in Mumbai and one in Saurashtra, all concentrated in key trade centres. After Independence Union Bank accelerated its growth and by the time the government nationalised it in 1969, it had grown to 240 branches in 28 states. Shortly after nationalisation, Union Bank merged in Belgaum Bank, a private sector bank established in 1930 that had itself merged in a bank in 1964, the Shri Jadeya Shankarling Bank (Bijapur; incorporated on 10 May 1948). Then in 1985 Union Bank merged in Miraj State Bank, which had been established in 1929, and which had 26 branches. In 1999 the Reserve Bank of India requested that Union Bank acquire Sikkim Bank in a rescue after extensive irregularities had been discovered at the non-scheduled bank. Sikkim Bank had eight branches located in the North-east, which was attractive to Union Bank. Union Bank began its international expansion in 2007 with the opening of representative offices in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China. The next year, Union Bank established a branch in Hong Kong, its first branch outside India. In 2009, Union Bank opened a representative office in Sydney, Australia. At present, the offshore banking operations of Union Bank of India are led by its branches in Hong Kong and newly opened branch in Dubai at Dubai International Financial Centre.
Today, Union Bank of India (UBI) is one of the largest government-owned banks of India (the government owns 63.44% of its share capital). It is listed on the Forbes 2000, and has assets of USD 13.45 billion. All the bank's branches have been networked with its 6909 ATMs as on 30th September 2015. Its online Telebanking facility are available to all its Core Banking Customers - individual as well as corporate. As of September 2016, UBI has 4214 branches. Four of these are overseas in Hong Kong, Dubai International Financial Centre, Antwerp, and Sydney (Australia). UBI also has representative offices at Shanghai, Beijing and Abu Dhabi. Lastly, UBI operates in the United Kingdom through its wholly owned subsidiary, Union Bank of India (UK).