The National Bank was established by a group of Zagreb-based individuals on , as the collapse of
Austria-Hungary looked increasingly likely, with a view that it might become the
central bank for a future autonomous or independent Croatia. In 1920 it took over the small savings bank , On , an Act on the National Bank granted it the privilege of issuing banknotes, and it was to take over the former branches of the
Austro-Hungarian Bank in Croatia,
Slavonia and
Dalmatia. This, however, placed it in direct competition with the
National Bank of the Kingdom of Serbia as monetary authority of the newly formed
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. A compromise was quickly negotiated that repurposed the National Bank in Zagreb as a commercial bank; the Belgrade-based National Bank changed its name to
National Bank of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, while the Zagreb-based National Bank renamed itself as Slavenska Banka as was formally registered in 1921. The Slavenska Banka remained ambitious, however, as illustrated by the palatial head office it commissioned in Zagreb. In April 1922 it absorbed two smaller rivals, the
Bjelovar Savings Bank ( in central Croatia and the Yugoslav Union Bank () in Belgrade, The Belgrade-based National Bank, however, remained wary of the continued existence of a potential Croatian rival, which led to its bankruptcy in 1925 and later liquidation. The opulent head office building was purchased in 1928 by the
State Mortgage Bank of Yugoslavia, which relocated its Zagreb branch there from its previous address at
Ilica 12. ==Head office building==