Punjab National Bank (PNB) is a multinational banking and financial services company. It is a state corporation based in New Delhi, India. The bank was founded in 1894. As of March 31, 2017 the bank has over 80 million customers, 6,937 branches, and 10681 ATMs through 764 cities.
PNB has a UK based banking subsidiary (PNB International Bank with seven branches in the UK) as well as branches in Hong Kong, Kowloon, Dubai and Kabul. It has representative offices in Almaty (Kazakhstan), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Shanghai (China), Oslo (Norway) and Sydney (Australia). In Bhutan it owns 51% of Druk PNB Bank, which has five branches. In Nepal PNB owns 20% of Everest Bank Limited, which has 50 branches. Finally, PNB owns 84% of JSC (SB) PNB Bank in Kazakhstan, which has four branches.
The National Bank of Punjab was registered on May 19, 1894 under the Indian Companies Act, with its office in Anarkali Bazaar, Lahore, in present-day Pakistan. The founding council was from different parts of India that professed different beliefs and backgrounds with the common goal of creating a truly national bank that would promote the economic interest of the country. The founders of PNB included several leaders of the Swadeshi movement such as Dyal Singh Majithia and Lala Harkishen Lal, Lala Lalchand, Kali Prosanna Roy, E.C. Jessawala, Prabhu Dayal, Bakshi Jaishi Ram and Lala Dholan Dass. Lala Lajpat Rai was actively associated with the Bank's management in its early years. The board met for the first time on 23 May 1894. The bank opened its doors on 12 April 1895 in Lahore.