Detailed SWOT Analysis of UCO Bank – One Of The Nationalized Banks In India Based In Kolkata

Quick Stats on UCO Bank

Founder	Ghanshyam Das Birla
Year Founded	1943
Origin	Kolkata, West Bengal, India
No. of Employees	22,000+
Company Type	Public
Market Cap	Rs14,586.27 Crore (2022)
Annual Revenue	Rs18,166.42 Crore (2021)
Net Income/ Profit	Rs167.03 Crore (2021)

Products & Services By UCO Bank

• Consumer Banking
• Corporate Banking
• Finance & Insurance
• Investment Banking
• Mortgage Loans
• Private Banking
• Wealth Management

Competitors of UCO Bank

Below are the top 3 competitors of UCO Bank:

• Indian bank
• Union Bank of India
• Dena bank

After understanding the core of the corporation, let us now proceed to the SWOT analysis of UCO Bank. 

SWOT Analysis of UCO Bank

A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in a project or a business venture. A good SWOT analysis can help you reach your online marketing goals or kick your business startup into high gear. 

To better understand the SWOT analysis of UCO Bank, refer to the infographic below:

Let’s proceed further with expanding on the strengths of the UCO Bank from the SWOT analysis of UCO Bank.

Strengths of UCO Bank

A company-specific feature that brings the benefits of gaining more market share, attracting more customers, and maximizing profits are called its strength. 

• Commercial Bank: Biggest strength of UCO Bank is that it is a commercial bank with a 94.44% stake being held by the government. The government, a major stakeholder in a bank is indeed a plus point as it acts as a regulator, is free from fraud, and is more people-oriented.
• One of the Oldest: Presence of 79 years makes it one of the oldest in the market and it also establishes a kind of trust for its clients.
• Country-wide Presence: It has more than 4000 service units and 2,564 ATMs spread all over India hence providing facilities in almost every part of the country.
• Overseas Presence: It is present in some of the international locations for the last 60+ years like Singapore and Hongkong and is carrying out profitable overseas operations. This international network is further augmented by correspondent arrangements with leading banks.

• Innovative: UCO Bank provides every service to their customers from e-banking to loan facilities to everything. Online Telebanking facilities are available to all its core customers and individuals as well as corporate.

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• Long Term Liabilities: It has a high proportion of long term liabilities. For the banks, the longer the liability, the more it is beneficial. Apart from this, it has a well-diversified asset portfolio with a large and diversified client base of more than 25.8 million.

Weaknesses of UCO Bank

Weaknesses are areas of a business that need to be changed, improved or removed for the betterment of the company. UCO Bank’s major flaws are as follows:

• Lack of International Presence: Being a commercial bank is more concentric to India in comparison to other private banks so it needs to build an international presence to survive in the long run.
• Decreasing Revenue: Although it has a good client base it is slowly losing its market share as the interest earned count is on a decreasing scale. It should soon come up with more revenue models to increase its revenue and to become profitable in the long run.
• Highly Loss-making: Although it has shown a profit in the year 2020-21 it has been in heavy losses in its past 7-8 years. It should work harder to be profitable in the long run.
• Weak Internet Banking: In comparison to other banks, it has a very slow and unorganized banking system. It needs to spend more on making its IT infrastructure stronger.
• Lesser Retail Banking: In comparison to other banks, it has lesser retail banking. It is not able to compete against the competition provided by private sector banks, due to competitor’s good service their customer base is shifting towards private banks.
• Depleted Infrastructure: The infrastructure of its branches is very old and depleted. Along with IT infrastructure it also needs to spend on its building infrastructure as other banks have a well-acquainted infrastructure.

Opportunities for UCO Bank

Opportunities as the name itself suggest, are the pointers that show prospects of a particular thing. Opportunities in the case of UCO Bank are:

• Rapid Economic Expansion: This allows UCO Banks to expand into the US market as the US economy is recovering faster than any other developed economy. UCO Bank already has the necessary expertise to do business in the highly competitive US market. 
• Customer Preferences are Changing Rapidly: With increasing disposable income, easy access to information, and the rapid acceptance of technical products, today’s  customers are experimenting/trying new products in the market. UCO Bank needs to carefully monitor a wide range of trends in the broader financial sector and the growing banking industry.
• Tighter Government Regulation: These regulations make it more difficult for disorganized stakeholders to enter the local banking industry. This allows UCO Banks to expand their customer base. 
• Opportunities in the Online Sector: As the acceptance of online services increases among customers, UCO Bank can also offer new offers to customers in the regional banking industry. 

Threats to UCO Bank

Threats as the name itself suggests are the pointers that indicate possible problems that a company can face in the future. Threats in the case of UCO Bank are:

• Competitive Pressures: As the new product launch cycles are reducing in the financial industry. It has put additional competitive pressures on players such as UCO Bank. Given the large customer base, UCO Bank can’t respond quickly to the needs of the niche markets that disruptors are focusing on.
• Rising Private Sector Banks: Private sector banks are developing novel investment packages and thereby gaining market share among retail consumers.
• Economic Crisis: As a result of the economic crisis, clients are not saving money in banks, reducing bank liquidity and making it difficult to operate efficiently.
• Changing Policies: Banking policies are governed by Reserve Bank of India  (RBI) laws and regulations, therefore any changes made by the RBI have a direct impact on the bank’s operations.
• High Competition: The primary competitors are Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank, Indian Overseas bank which are performing well.
• Online Banks: Loans are provided online by private banks which pose a threat to the UCO Bank.
• Tech-Platforms: New-age technology like payment wallets are affecting the business of the bank.
• Talent Retention: Developing and retaining key executives can be difficult as multiple new banks, fintech companies, and existing banks are competing for the same talent pool.

This ends our study on the SWOT analysis of UCO Bank. Let us conclude our learning below.