Punjab National Bank (PNB) is an Indian public sector bank with its head office in New Delhi. Established in the late 19th century, it is among the oldest commercial banks in India founded with indigenous Indian capital and is one of the largest nationalised banks in the country, offering a wide range of banking and financial services through a nationwide branch network and overseas operations.
| Name | Punjab National Bank |
|---|---|
| Type | Public sector undertaking |
| Industry | Banking, financial services |
| Founded | 1894, Lahore (in undivided India) |
| Headquarters | New Delhi, India |
| Owner | Government of India |
| Listing | BSE, NSE |
| Area served | India and select international markets |
Punjab National Bank was founded in 1894 at Lahore, then part of undivided India, by a group of Indian nationalists and businessmen who sought to create a bank financed and managed wholly by Indians. Lala Lajpat Rai is associated with its founding and is recorded as having opened one of the first accounts. The bank commenced operations in 1895 and over the following decades expanded across northern India.
Following the partition of India in 1947, PNB shifted its registered office to Delhi and reorganised its operations on the Indian side of the new border. It was nationalised in July 1969 along with thirteen other major commercial banks under the policy of bank nationalisation initiated by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
PNB provides retail banking, corporate banking, international banking, treasury operations, and priority sector lending. Its services include savings and current accounts, fixed deposits, housing and vehicle loans, MSME finance, agricultural credit, trade finance, and digital banking platforms. The bank has a presence in rural, semi-urban, urban, and metropolitan centres across India, with the largest concentration of branches historically in the northern states.
The bank also operates through subsidiaries and joint ventures in areas such as housing finance, life insurance, and asset management, and has overseas branches and representative offices in select international financial centres.
As one of India's earliest indigenous banks and a major nationalised institution, PNB has played a notable role in financing agriculture, small industries, and priority sector activities. The 2020 amalgamation with Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India consolidated it as one of the largest public sector banks in India by branch network and business volume. The bank is also identified by the Reserve Bank of India among institutions whose operations are closely monitored due to their scale within the Indian banking system.