In 1980, there were only two commercial banks, but by the year 2012, there were a maximum of 32. Since 2020, 10 banks have decreased in the period of two and a half years. Nepal Rastra Bank, through its monetary policy of 2074, took a policy to increase the paid-up capital of commercial banks and reduce their number. Then, in 2076, the then Global IME Bank and Janata Bank merged and started the Big Merger. Last June, Nabil Bank acquired Nepal Bangladesh Bank.

After the merger of Nepal Investment Bank and Mega Bank Nepal, the integrated business has started under the name of Nepal Investment Mega Bank Limited. After Himalayan Bank acquired Civil Bank and started integrated business, the number of banks has been limited to 20.

The study of Nepal Rastra Bank showed that the number of commercial banks in Nepal is high and only 15 commercial banks are needed in the country. The study suggested to go for merger and acquisition to reduce the number of banks and financial institutions. Also, it has been suggested to be careful in case there is no competition.

Top 20 A Class Commercial banks of Nepal

Commercial banks are classified as Class "A" banks by the Nepal Rastra Bank. There are 20 commercial banks as of Mid Jan 2024.

Source : wikipedia.org

The largest bank is Global IME Bank Limited

Global IME Bank, which has merged two dozen banks and financial institutions, is becoming the country's largest commercial bank after recently 'merging' with Bank of Kathmandu. After the merger, the bank's total capital will reach 57 billion rupees, paid-up capital 35.77 billion, total deposits 4 trillion, total loans will reach more than 3 trillion 79 billion rupees.

Five commercial banks, 10 development banks and six finance companies have been incorporated into Global IME BOK Limited, which will be formed by merging 21 banks and financial institutions.

After the merger of the two banks, Global IME BOK Limited will be the largest bank in the country with a total of 396 branch offices, 368 ATMs, 275 branchless banking services, 61 extended branch offices, three foreign contact offices, more than 4 million customers and many other financial indicators.

Kumari Bank Limited

With the merger of NCC Bank in Kumari, business has started under the name of Kumari Bank. After the merger, the bank's paid-up capital has reached 26 billion 23 billion rupees. The bank's deposit collection is 3 trillion 2 billion and loan investment is 2 trillion 80 billion rupees.

306 branch networks, 47 extension counters, 62 branchless banking and 345 ATMs have been reached. Now Kumari Bank's office is located in Tangalai.

Prabhu and Century Commercial Bank Limited

Both the banks will be merged in equal ratio. After the merger, Ashok Sherchan of Prabhu Bank will become the Chief Executive Officer of the Bank and Manoj Neupane of Century Bank will become the Deputy CEO. Prabhu Bank's paid-up capital is 12.7 billion, while Century Bank's paid-up capital is 9.55 billion.

Nepal Investment and Mega Bank Limited

Investment and Mega Bank merged in the ratio of 100:0.90. Now the shareholders of 100 shares of Mega Bank will get 90 shares of Nepal Investment Bank. Currently, Nepal Investment Bank's paid-up capital is 18.3 billion rupees, while Mega's is 16.12 billion rupees. The paid up capital of Nepal Investment Mega Bank Limited will reach around 33 billion when there is a 90 percent swap merger. Since the integrated transaction will be carried out from January 27th, all services of both banks will be suspended on January 25th and 26th for data migration.