Our Corporate Milestones

About Us

1930s - 1960s

Our Beginning

1935

Amid the uncertainties of the Great Depression, a group of seven businessmen led by Datuk Wee Kheng Chiang (first row, fifth from left) founded a bank to serve the merchant community in Singapore.

1935 (6 August)

United Chinese Bank (UCB) is incorporated

1935 (1 October)

UCB begins operations at
Bonham Building

1956

Introduces coin banks for children

1958

Drives 1st mobile branch

1959

Opens 1st UCB branch at Beach Road

1962

1st bank to focus on women as customers

1965

UCB is renamed United Overseas Bank

Opens 1st overseas branch in Hong Kong

>1970s - 1980s

1971

Acquires majority stake in Chung Khiaw Bank (CKB) in Singapore

Opens Tokyo branch

Reveals iconic five-bar logo

1973

Acquires Lee Wah Bank in Singapore

1974

Dr Wee Cho Yaw succeeds Datuk Wee as Chairman and CEO

UOB Group begins operating from its new 30-storey building which stood on the same site as Bonham Building (the current UOB Plaza 2)

1975

Opens London branch

1977

Opens New York agency

1980

Opens Singapore’s 1st ATM offering 24-hour banking

Opens Los Angeles agency

1982

Holds inaugural UOB Painting of the Year competition

1983

Opens Seoul representative office

1984

Opens Beijing representative office

Acquires majority interest in Far Eastern Bank in Singapore

1985

Expands into Sydney and Xiamen

1986

Expands into Vancouver

1987

Acquires majority interest in Industrial & Commercial Bank in Singapore

1988

1st Singapore bank to launch
Visa cards

1st bank to launch Singapore’s
only credit card for women

>1990s - 2000s

1992

1st Singapore bank to set up office in Vietnam

Sets up Taipei representative office

1993

1st bank in Singapore to launch automated cash deposit machine

1994

Expands into Yangon

1995

Celebrates 60th anniversary and official opening of UOB Plaza 1

1997

UOB Malaysia merges with CKB Malaysia

1998

Opens Shanghai branch

1999

Acquires Westmont Bank in the Philippines

Acquires Radanasin Bank in Thailand

2000

Mr Wee Ee Cheong is appointed Deputy Chairman

2001

Acquires Overseas Union Bank in Singapore

2004

Acquires 96.1% in Bank of Asia Public Company in Thailand

2005

Increases controlling stake of PT Bank Buana in Indonesia to 61.1%

2007

Mr Wee Ee Cheong succeeds
Dr Wee Cho Yaw as CEO

Launches 1st UOB Heartbeat Run/Walk

>2000s - 2010s

2009

Opens Mumbai branch

2010

Merges PT Bank UOB Indonesia with PT Bank UOB Buana

2011

1st bank in Singapore to establish a Foreign Direct Investment Advisory Unit to support our clients’ regional expansion

2013

Dr Wee Cho Yaw becomes Chairman Emeritus and Adviser

1st bank in Singapore to offer retail customers online access to gold and silver savings accounts

2014

Named Most Admired ASEAN Enterprise for ASEAN Centricity by ASEAN Business Advisory Council

2015

Celebrates 80th anniversary, introduces refreshed logo and a corporate seal

Opens Yangon branch

Completes full acquisition of Far Eastern Bank

Opens UOB Southeast Asia Gallery at National Gallery Singapore, housing the world’s largest collection of modern Southeast Asian Art

Introduces UOB Mighty,
1st mobile app outside of the US to enable contactless payments with tokenised security

2016

1st in the world to launch instant digital card issuance

1st in Southeast Asia to enable smartphones for contactless transactions at UOB ATMs

2010s

2017

1st in Singapore to use PayNow to raise funds for charity

2018

1st Singapore bank to establish a subsidiary in Vietnam

Officially opens new China headquarters building in Shanghai’s Lujiazui Financial District

1st Singapore bank to establish a subsidiary in Vietnam

Sets up Singapore’s largest car ecosystem and unites Singapore’s largest property ecosystem under one roof
‍
Dr Wee Cho Yaw retires from the Board

2019

Launches TMRW, ASEAN’s first mobile-only digital bank in Thailand for the region’s millennials
‍

Launches U-Solar, Asia’s first solar ecosystem to power the region’s development and adoption of renewable energy

Expands into northern Vietnam with Hanoi branch

2020

Supports more than 1.4 million individuals and businesses, and contributes more than $2.7 million for the community under the #UnitedForYou COVID-19 Relief Programme

Donates more than 1 million pieces of personal protective equipment to healthcare workers and vulnerable communities around the world

Extends TMRW, our award-winning digital bank for ASEAN’s digital generation, to Indonesia

Rolls out the UOB Smart City Sustainable Finance Framework, the first by a bank in Asia to support companies contributing to the creation of smart cities