Nepal Bank Limited

Nepal Bank Limited (NBL) is the oldest bank in Nepal and the institution that started formal banking in the country. It opened on 15 November 1937 (30 Kartik 1994 BS) and today operates as a Class 'A' commercial bank licensed by Nepal Rastra Bank, majority-owned by the Government of Nepal, serving individuals, businesses, government offices and pensioners from more than two hundred branches.

Before 1937, lending in Nepal ran through Tejarath Adda, a government treasury office that advanced money against collateral but took no deposits. Nepal Bank Limited was established under the Nepal Bank Act 1937 during the tenure of Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana and was inaugurated by King Tribhuvan, becoming the first institution in the country to accept public deposits and issue commercial credit.

The bank was set up as a joint venture between the state and private shareholders: of the original share issue, 60 percent was taken by the government and 40 percent offered to the public, with only ten shareholders at the outset. Against an authorised capital of Rs 10 million it raised Rs 842,000 in its first subscription, and closed its first year with deposits of about Rs 1.7 million. For nearly two decades it was the only bank in Nepal, handling currency circulation and government transactions in the years before Nepal Rastra Bank was created in 1956.

The bank went through a difficult period of non-performing loans in the 1990s and early 2000s and was placed under a management reform programme supervised by Nepal Rastra Bank. It returned to profitability and remains one of the systemically important banks in Nepal, with the Government of Nepal as its majority shareholder.

Nepal Bank operates roughly 217 branches and about 144 ATM terminals spread across all seven provinces, with a presence in district headquarters and rural municipalities where few private banks operate. Its Kathmandu valley network covers New Road, Dharmapath, Baneshwor, Kalanki, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, and outside the valley it serves Pokhara, Biratnagar, Birgunj, Butwal, Nepalgunj, Dharan, Itahari, Janakpur, Hetauda and Dhangadhi among others. Because of its government ownership and old branch footprint, it handles a large share of pension payments and local government banking in smaller towns.

The bank offers mobile and internet banking, card services and QR-based payments alongside its counter network. It is connected to the international banking system through SWIFT code NEBLNPKA, which supports inward remittance, trade settlement and foreign currency transfers.