The bank was founded on 3 December 1993 as
UTI Bank as a part of
Unit Trust of India, a
Government of India entity, opening its registered office in
Ahmedabad and a corporate office in
Mumbai. The bank was promoted jointly by the Administrator of the
Unit Trust of India (UTI),
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), General Insurance Corporation, National Insurance Company,
The New India Assurance Company, The Oriental Insurance Corporation and
United India Insurance Company. The first branch was inaugurated on 2 April 1994 in
Ahmedabad by
Manmohan Singh, then finance minister of India. In 2001 UTI Bank agreed to merge with
Global Trust Bank, but the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) withheld approval and the merger did not take place. In 2004, the RBI put Global Trust under moratorium and supervised its merger with
Oriental Bank of Commerce. The following year, UTI bank was listed on the
London Stock Exchange. In 2006, UTI Bank opened its first overseas branch in
Singapore. The same year it opened an office in
Shanghai,
China. In 2007, it opened a branch in the
Dubai International Financial Centre and branches in
Hong Kong. On 30 July 2007, UTI Bank changed its name to Axis Bank. In 2009,
Shikha Sharma was appointed as the MD and CEO of Axis Bank. In 2013, Axis Bank's subsidiary, Axis Bank UK commenced banking operations. In March 2014, the Indian government sold a 9% stake, out of its total 20.7% stake in Axis Bank. In 2017, Axis Bank acquired
Freecharge, a digital marketplace for financial services for approximately ₹385 crore. On 1 January 2019,
Amitabh Chaudhry took over as MD and CEO. In 2021, Axis Bank had reduced its stake in
Yes Bank from 2.39% to 1.96%. In 2023, Axis Bank completed the acquisition of
Citibank India's consumer banking business for . In 2025, Axis Bank has partnered with
J.P. Morgan to provide real-time U.S. dollar payment capabilities for commercial clients in India. ==Operations==