As the name implies, Arab Bank was established with a vision of being a bank for the Arab world. By the end of 2006, the Arab Bank was the Middle East's seventh largest commercial bank with JOD18.44 billion (USD26.05 billion) in total assets.

Arab Bank offers commercial banking services, including retail and commercial services, and investment banking, including fund management and brokerage services. The bank also offers online banking and trading services in addition to mobile banking services. By year-end 2006, it had over 400 branches spread across the world.

As one of the region's oldest banks, Arab Bank traces its history back to 1930 when it was established in Jerusalem by Abdul Hameed Shoman who had returned from New York a year earlier after accumulating considerable wealth and experience.

Arab Bank moved its headquarters to Amman, Jordan in 1948 due to political turmoil in Palestine after the establishment of the state of Israel. The bank expanded across the region and although it lost some of its branches as regional countries underwent nationalization programs (Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, and Libya), Arab Bank continued its growth.

In addition to growing within Jordan, Arab Bank initiated its international expansion beyond the region in the 1960's. It was the first Arab financial institution to establish a presence in Switzerland with the opening of a sister bank, Arab Bank Switzerland, in 1962. Arab Bank expanded into other continent by opening branches and sister companies established in Lagos, Kano, Germany, Australia, Austria, Spain, England, Cyprus, France, Italy, Singapore, China, Kazakhstan, Korea, and the United States.

In its early years, Arab Bank concentrated on trade and small scale construction finance. As oil revenues fuelled development in the Arab World during the 1970's, the bank played a growing role in large scale project finance, both directly and through participation in syndicated loans. In the 1990's, Arab Bank added investment banking to its services portfolio.

Arab Bank listed its shares on the Amman Stock ExchangeAmman Stock Exchange as the exchange was founded in 1999. In January 2006, Arab Bank underwent a rights issue, which raised USD1.5 billion. Arab Bank represented 36% of Amman stock exchanges' total market capitalization at year-end 2006.