The Bank was registered on 10th November 1915 under the name and style of “The Mysore Provincial Cooperative Bank Limited,” under the Mysore Co-operative Societies Act of 1905. Then , the Bank was not an Apex institution, as it was not exclusively meant for financing the co-operatives in the then State of Mysore. Another Bank called the Bangalore Central Co-operative Bank Limited, Bangalore (which was later converted into an urban bank), which was registered in 1905, was also financing the co-operatives. The bank owes its origin to Sri. M.A. Narayan Iyengar, B.A., B.L., who was the Registrar of Co-operative Societies at that time.
The Bank was founded with the objective of financing, inspecting and supervising the co-operative societies in the Mysore State. Subsequently, several district co-operative central banks with the jurisdiction of a district were registered. Five such district central banks were started. But their working was not satisfactory and they became defunct. As such, the provincial bank started financing the societies directly. Besides granting of loans, the Bank served as an outlet for investment of the surplus finds of the co-operative societies in the State. The Bank thus acts as the balancing centre of the Co-operative Movement in the State, safeguarding its interests.
