[3] Volkskas was formally opened on 1 February 1935 in the De Villiers building in Pretoria by J.J. Bosman and a typist.

It was registered as a cooperative loan bank under the Co-Operative Societies Act and thus began serving Afrikaners forced by the Great Depression to move to the city between 1929 and 1933.

Full banking status brought rapid expansion and a solid economic footing to the company.

Already in 1946, overseas representation began to meet the growing needs of clients who conducted transactions through other channels in other countries.

Volkskas helped found the Nasionale Bouvereniging, which later played a primary role in supporting Afrikaner interests in construction along with Saambou.

Volkskas Aksepbank Beperk ("Volkskas Merchant Banking Limited") established operations to serve corporate clients in the industries of industrial materials, mining, trade and real estate, public corporations, and local authorities.

Volkskas Industriële Bank Beperk provided wholesale financing for large lease-to-buy and rental transactions with a focus on industrial materials.

[5] These banks all traded under their own names until 1998, when United, Volkskas, Allied, and TrustBank all merged under the ABSA umbrella.