UCO Bank is an Indian public sector bank and financial services institution headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. The bank was originally founded as United Commercial Bank Ltd. on January 6, 1943, by industrialist G.D. Birla. The idea for a "truly Indian bank" was conceived after the 1942 "Quit India" movement to support India's industrial and economic growth. The bank was nationalized by the Government of India on July 19, 1969, which led to a shift towards "mass banking" and away from "class banking".
The name was officially changed to UCO Bank in 1985 by an Act of Parliament to simplify its identity and avoid confusion with a bank in Bangladesh named United Commercial Bank PLC. As a public sector bank, the Government of India holds a majority shareholding, which stood at 90.95 per cent as of March 31, 2025. UCO Bank operates through a network of over 3,000 service units across India and maintains an international presence with two overseas branches in Singapore and Hong Kong.
A key mechanism that connects UCO Bank to international trade is its role as the designated nodal bank for the Rupee-Rial payment mechanism, facilitating trade between India and Iran. The bank's operations are governed by the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970, under which its Part-time Non-Official Directors are appointed. Recently, the bank's Asset Liability Management Committee (ALCO) revised select benchmark rates, including the Treasury Bill Linked Rates (TBLR) and G-Sec rates, effective April 10, 2026, while maintaining the Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) across all tenors. The bank also recently saw a routine governance transition with the cessation of two Part-time Non-Official Directors on April 10, 2026, upon completion of their one-year tenure.