What is "volksbank"

There are several European banks that operate under the name "Volksbank" ( German for "people's bank").

There are also 1,099 independent local Volksbanken in Germany. They are completely separate from the Austrian Association of Volksbanks. Volksbanken are also known as VB (the name has the same origin as VW Volkswagen - VOLK is the German word for people) or as VR (VR means Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken). The German association is one of the world's largest financial conglomerates and is both larger and more important than the Austrian Association of Volksbanks.