Search results for PNB and forex produce a mess, mostly because two large banks share the abbreviation. Sorting out which one you mean is the first step, and it changes every answer that follows.
Punjab National Bank is the Indian public-sector lender, founded in 1894 in Lahore and now headquartered in New Delhi. It absorbed Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India on 1 April 2020, which made it one of the largest state-controlled banks in the country, with the Government of India holding the majority stake. Philippine National Bank is a different institution entirely, established in 1916, listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange and supervised by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, with deposits insured by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Both are supervised. Any page telling you that PNB operates without a financial authority is simply wrong, whichever bank it means.
Who licences Punjab National Bank
The Reserve Bank of India is the licensing and supervisory authority. Punjab National Bank also appears on the RBI's published list of Authorised Dealers in foreign exchange, which is the specific permission a bank needs to buy and sell foreign currency in India.
That authorisation is the whole basis of its foreign exchange business. Dealings run under the Foreign Exchange Management Act of 1999 and the RBI directions issued beneath it, rather than under the conduct rulebook that governs a retail forex broker in London or Cyprus.
Practically, that means the bank's currency services exist to settle trade, move remittances and serve non-resident customers. They do not exist to let a retail client speculate on EUR/USD with borrowed margin.
Keep that sentence in mind. It explains every product list that follows.
What forex covers at this bank
For exporters, the bank offers pre-shipment and post-shipment finance in both foreign currency and rupees, handles export bills on a collection basis, processes outward remittances for purposes permitted under exchange control guidelines, and receives inward remittances including advance payments. It maintains Exchange Earners Foreign Currency accounts, usually shortened to EEFC, and helps obtain credit reports on overseas counterparties.
Importers get a parallel set. The bank establishes import letters of credit covering goods coming into India and handles documents under those credits, processes import bills on collection, remits advance payment against imports, and allows use of pre-shipment credit in foreign currency for imports.
Rate quoting is part of the service, as is the unglamorous work of export bill crystallisation and the interest rates that apply to export credit. Electronic data interchange connectivity with the Customs department lets clients pay duty and receive drawback electronically.
FX-Retail and the four trade finance centres
One product deserves particular attention because it is closest to what a retail reader expects. FX-Retail is a portal customised by Clearing Corporation of India Limited, hosted by the bank, that gives customers direct access to the interbank market for small value transactions. A user can create credentials and buy or sell US dollars against rupees directly.
The caveat is the pair. The portal is described around USD/INR, so a customer wanting to convert euros or yen is routed through ordinary branch or treasury channels instead.
Forex help desks operate out of four Global Trade Finance Centres, in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, each covering a set of zonal offices. A Centralised Back Office for Trade Finance sits on the 9th floor of the DCM Building on Barakhamba Road in New Delhi, and all inward remittances are processed centrally through the International Service Branch in the capital.
NRI deposits, remittances and travel currency
Non-resident customers are a large part of the foreign exchange book. The bank offers Foreign Currency Non-Resident deposit accounts, Non-Resident External accounts across savings, current and term structures, and Non-Resident Ordinary accounts including recurring deposits.
Money movement products include the Indo Nepal Remittance Scheme, known as INREMIT, the PNB-NRI REMIT scheme, and rupee drawing arrangements with exchange houses for speed remittances. There is also a complaints route to the International Banking Division at head office.
Travellers can exchange foreign currency notes and travellers cheques or take a World Travel Card. Corporate clients can obtain buyers and suppliers credit against imports into India, guarantees issued on behalf of foreign banks, precious metal business on a consignment basis, gold metal loans for domestic jewellery manufacturers, and ECGC bank assurance policies sold to exporters.
What PNB does not offer
This is where precision matters most. Punjab National Bank is not a forex broker. It does not run a leveraged margin trading platform, it does not offer contracts for difference, and it does not provide MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5, the two platforms usually shortened to MT4 and MT5.
Nor does it quote a spread in pips. Pricing arrives as a rate quoted for your transaction.
Nor could it easily start. Indian residents remitting abroad under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme get an annual ceiling of 250,000 US dollars per financial year, and that facility is not available for margin trading or for trading in foreign exchange overseas. A retail client looking for 1:500 leverage on major pairs is not describing anything an Indian public-sector bank is allowed to sell.
Anyone who arrives here after searching for a broker comparison is therefore looking at the wrong category of institution. The correct comparison set for this bank is other Indian authorised dealers, not offshore CFD brokers.
How to verify the licence and the branch
- The Reserve Bank of India publishes the list of Authorised Dealers in foreign exchange. Search it for the bank name and confirm the entry rather than relying on a marketing page.
- The bank's own site hosts a downloadable list of authorised dealer branches. Not every branch can deal in foreign exchange, so confirm the branch before travelling.
- Forex grievances have a dedicated escalation route to the International Banking Division, and the four Global Trade Finance Centres publish nodal officer names and phone numbers.
- If you meant Philippine National Bank instead, check the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas supervisory list, the Philippine Stock Exchange disclosure page, and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation for the current insured limit.
One document settles most questions about identity. The RBI authorised dealer list is published as a downloadable file and carries a Legal Entity Identifier against each bank, and the entry for Punjab National Bank reads 335800LE3GBR6I412V82. Matching that identifier against the entity named in your own paperwork removes the last doubt about which bank you are dealing with.
Cross-checking the second point saves the most wasted journeys, since branch-level authorisation is the detail most customers assume rather than confirm. A phone call settles it.
One artefact is worth opening. The authorised dealer branch list published on the bank's site carries a file name ending 01092025, a date stamp of 1 September 2025. If the copy you find is older, ask the branch for the current one.
Two dates anchor the modern structure. The merger took effect on 1 April 2020. The authorised dealer status predates that, and the RBI republishes its list periodically rather than continuously.
Treat anything you read about this bank after 2020 with suspicion if it describes pre-merger branch networks or product names.
The Philippine namesake, briefly
Philippine National Bank, founded in 1916, is supervised by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, is listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange, and has retail deposits insured by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation up to the current statutory limit. Confirm that limit on the PDIC site, because it has been amended before and a figure quoted secondhand is not worth relying on.
Who this bank actually suits
Exporters and importers who need letters of credit, pre-shipment credit and a counterparty that can quote a competitive rate are the natural fit. Non-resident Indians managing FCNR, NRE and NRO deposits, or sending money home through documented remittance channels, are the second group.
A resident retail customer wanting to trade currency for profit has no product here, and the reason is regulatory rather than commercial. That is not a criticism of the bank. It is the boundary of what an Indian authorised dealer does, and confusing a bank with a broker is how people end up on the wrong side of it.
Confirm current product terms, rates and branch authorisation directly with the bank before acting, since exchange control rules and published fees change without notice.