爱尔兰联合银行(ISEQ: ALBK, LSE: ALBK, NYSE: AIB, FWB: AIB)成立于1966年，现有员工5万人，其业务现已覆盖到美国、英国、波兰等多个国家和地区，总部设在都柏林，是爱尔兰最大的金融企业。

爱尔兰联合银行是爱尔兰最大的外汇交易企业，其影响力远远超过爱尔兰银行。爱尔兰联合银行在纽约、伦敦和都柏林股市上总共有10万股民。总行由6个部分组成，具体包含：爱尔兰共和国爱尔兰联合银行，该行的紧要业务是处理国内保险和金融以及贷款业务；英国及北爱尔兰的爱尔兰联合银行，紧要由英国的金融集团和北爱的第一信托银行组成；爱尔兰联合银行国际银行负责国际投入业务；波兰爱尔兰联合银行，负责最近刚刚收购的两家银行的运作；爱尔兰联合银行企业网络是最近刚刚创立的，负责高科技进展。

爱尔兰联合银行美国分行爱弗斯特是美国五十大银行之一，现有职员6000人，在马里兰州和宾州有250个次一级支行，并在纽约、芝加哥、洛杉矶、费城、亚特兰大和旧金山都开设有办公室。

Allied Irish Banks is usually referred to, both inside and outside the company, as simply AIB and often incorrectly as "Allied Irish Bank". In Northern Ireland however, the bank is known as First Trust Bank, while in Great Britain, it is called "Allied Irish Bank (GB)" - the only part of the operation where the full name, in the singular, is still in day-to-day use.

Initially, the bank operated under the names of its former constituent companies, alongside a new AIB logo, a circle divided in three with an "A" at the centre. From 1970, these were replaced by "Allied Irish Banks". In 1990, AIB introduced a new logo (prompted, it was said in some quarters, by the remarkable similarity between its previous logo and that of Mercedes-Benz.). Since then, the bank has preferred to be referred to as simply "AIB", though "Allied Irish Banks plc" remains its legal name.

Allied Irish Banks was formed in 1966 out of the merger of three Irish banks: Provincial Bank, Royal Bank of Ireland, and Munster & Leinster Bank. The banks saw an alliance as the best way to overcome the fragmented nature of the Irish banking industry. Ireland in the mid-1960s was changing fast and the merger strengthened the banks’ position in the emerging global business era. In 1966, AIB's aggregate assets were €323.8 million – as at 31 December 2005, the AIB Group had assets of €133 billion.

早期历史

• 1825 Provincial Bank commenced operations, pioneering joint stock branch banking in Ireland. It also established a branch in London.
• 1836 Royal Bank of Ireland (RBI) commenced operations. It was known for its mercantile links.
• 1837 RBI merged in Shaw’s Bank.
• 1864 The Munster Bank is established.
• 1867 The Munster Bank purchased some of the branches of the unsuccessful Union Bank of Ireland.
• 1870 The Munster Bank acquired the long established private bank David La Touche & Son.
• 1885 The Munster Bank failed due to mismanagement and fraud and is liquidated. However, Munster and Leinster Bank commences operations. Eventually it will become the largest of the three banks with the most extensive branch network.
• 1923 The Royal Bank of Ireland bought the Free State business of the Belfast Banking Company.

近期历史

Over the decades, AIB has become an increasingly international organisation. The creation of a branch network in Britain in the 1970s was followed by an investment in the USA in the 1980s.

In 1983, AIB first invested in First Maryland Bancorp in the USA. In July 1997, AIB acquired Dauphin Deposit Corporation which it merged with First Maryland Bancorp to form Allfirst in 1999.

In July 1991, the merger of AIB Group's interests in Northern Ireland with those of TSB Northern Ireland created First Trust Bank.

AIB invested in Poland by gradually building a majority shareholding of 60.1% in Wielkopolski Bank Kredytowy (WBK) between 1995 and 1996. In June 1999, AIB reached an agreement with the Polish State Treasury to acquire an 80% shareholding in Bank Zachodni SA. In June 2001, AIB completed a merger of the two banks to create Bank Zachodni WBK SA. The combined bank is a leading Polish bank in terms of asset size and key product market shares.

Between 1999 and 2001 AIB had an interest in Keppel TatLee Bank in Singapore, but withdrew after Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) acquired Keppel TatLee.

In April 2003, AIB completed a deal merging AIB’s US subsidiary, Allfirst, with M&T Bank Corporation. AIB now has a 22.5% stake in M&T, which is headquartered in Buffalo, New York. AIB maintains representative offices in the United States in Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and White Plains.