The bank developed in the course of the 17th century from the trading business of the long-established Linz ship master family Scheibenpogen.

Due to their common history and similar corporate cultures, the originally capital-based interdependence of Oberbank, BKS and BTV has developed into a close and particularly friendly cooperation that has been expressed since 1997 in a joint appearance as the 3-Banken-Gruppe.

A large number of shareholders were a prerequisite for the banks to be able to permanently detach themselves from CA's influence and pursue an independent strategy.

[3] Current shareholder structure by voting rights as of 31 December 2016:[4] Even in the difficult years of 2008 and 2009, the Oberbank was less affected than other institutions by the financial crisis from 2007 and did not have to make use of state aid during this period.

[5] The freedom of establishment for banks granted in the 1970s allowed the Oberbank to extend its catchment area outside its original region of Upper Austria/Salzburg.

Following a warning from the Verein für Konsumenteninformation (VKI), the bank changed its course of action and offered borrowers to switch back to foreign currency loans.