After World War II
In 1945 or 1946 IOB opened a branch in Colombo. In 1947, IOB opened a branch in Bangkok. Then IOB added a branch each in Ipoh, Klang, and Malacca, all in Malaya. Some years later, in 1955, IOB opened its first branch in Hong Kong. Others would follow.
In 1963, the revolutionary government in Burma nationalised Indian Overseas Bank's branches in Rangoon, Mandalay, and Moulmein, which became People's Bank No. 4.[3]
In the 1960s, the banking sector in India was consolidating through the merger of weak private sector banks with stronger ones. IOB acquired a number of local banks: Coimbatore Standard Bank (acq. 1963; one branch at Madras), Nanjinnad Bank (or Nanjanad Bank), Coimbatore Vasunthara Bank (or Coimbatore Vasundara Bank; est. June 1924; Head office and three branches; acq. 1964), Kulitalai Bank (est. 1933; acq. 1964; six branches), Srinivasa Perumal Bank (est. November 1935 at Coimbatore; acq. 1966), and (Sri/Lord) Venkateswara Bank (est. June 1931 as Salem Shevapet Sri Venkateswara Bank; acq. 1967; two branches in Salem, Tamil Nadu).
Then in 1969, the Government of India nationalized IOB. At one point, probably before nationalization, IOB had twenty of its eighty branches located overseas. However, Malaysian law forbade foreign government ownership of banks in Malaysia. After nationalization Indian Overseas Bank, like all the nationalized banks, turned inward, emphasizing the opening of branches in rural India.
In 1973, IOB, Indian Bank, and United Commercial Bank established United Asian Bank Berhad in Malaysia. (Indian Bank had been operating in Malaysia since 1941 and United Commercial Bank had been operating there since 1948.) The banks set up United Asian to comply with the Banking Law in Malaysia, which prohibited foreign government banks from operating in the country. Each contributed their operations in Malaysia to the new joint-venture bank, with each of the three-parent banks owning a third of the shares. At the time, Indian Bank had three branches, and Indian Overseas Bank and United Commercial Bank had eight between them. Also, IOB and six Indian private banks established Bharat Overseas Bank as a Chennai-based private bank to take over IOB's Bangkok branch.
In 1977, IOB opened a branch in Seoul. It also opened a branch in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Two years later, IOB opened a foreign currency banking unit in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
In 1983, ethnic sectarian violence in the form of anti-Tamil riots resulted in the burning of IOB's branch in Colombo. Indian Bank, which may have had stronger ties to the Sinhalese population, escaped unscathed.[4]
In 1988–89, IOB acquired Bank of Tamil Nadu, and its 99 branches, in a rescue. Bank of Tamil Nadu (or Bank of Tamilnad), had been established in 1903 in Tirunelveli as the South India Bank.
In 1992, Bank of Commerce (BOC), a Malaysian bank, acquired United Asian Bank (UAB).
