Vijaya Bank, was established on 23rd October 1931 by late Shri A.B.Shetty and other enterprising farmers in Mangalore, Karnataka. The objective behind establishment of the Bank was essentially to promote banking habit, thrift and enterpreneurship among the farming community of Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka State. The bank became a scheduled bank in 1958.

During 1963-68, nine smaller banks merged with Vijaya Bank and the Bank steadily grew into a large All India bank. Vijaya Bank was nationalized on April 15, 1980 and today the Bank has a network of 913 branches that span all 28 states and 3 union territories in the country.

Vijay Bank has been constantly focusing on technological upgradation. As on October 2005, all the 913 branches have been computerised, covering 97% of the bank's total business.

The Bank has diversified into new areas such as credit card, merchant banking, hire purchase and leasing, and electronic remittance services. Vijaya Bank is one of the few banks in the country to take up principal membership of VISA International and MasterCard International.