Österreichische Volksbanken-AG (VBAG) was established in 1922 as the central institution of the Austrian Volksbanks, which had been established as early as 1850 as commercial cooperative credit associations. Its primary role was to offset fluctuations in liquidity among the single Volksbanks.

Until today, VBAG's strategic alignment is based on the values of the cooperative principles. As the central institution of the Volksbank sector, VBAG is an important pillar of the Austrian economy.

For many years VBAG has had a stable and reliable ownership structure, which is based on a strong Austrian core shareholder. Volkbanken Holding, which stands behind all regional Volkbanks, has a 58.2 % interest. DZ-Bank Group has a 25 % share, with Victoria Group and RZB holding shares of 10 % and 6.1 % respectively. Only 0.7 % of shares are widely held.

In 1991, VBAG was converted into a central institution with commercial banking functions and started setting up the banking network in Central and Eastern Europe, which made it possible to assist Austrian medium-sized businesses in expanding within the enlarged Europe. In 1991, VBAG was the first foreign bank to acquire a full banking license in the former Czechoslovakia, which led to the founding of Ludova banka a.s. in Bratislava.

Today, the group consists of 63 banks with a network of almost 600 outlets in Austria, employing more than 5,100 staff members.

Through its subsidiary Volksbank International AG (VBI) in Vienna, the group manages a successful banking network of 573 sales offices (branches, bank shops, franchised branches) with almost 6,500 employees in 9 countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE): Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Ukraine.

The international network of VBAG is supplemented by a branch in Malta. VBAG's specialist companies are also available to assist customers with complex and long-term corporate finance, factoring, real estate, leasing and insurance transactions.

The group's Fitch rating has been confirmed as "A" on 05.01.2011 with a stable outlook.