The beginnings of the Regional Development Bank (RDB) can be traced back to as far as 1985 when district level banks under the category of Regional Rural Development Banks were established. Later in 1997, seventeen such rural regional development banks were merged into six provincial level banks, which functioned as Rajarata, Ruhuna, Wayamba, Uva, Kandurata and Sabaragamuwa Development Banks. In May 2010, these six banks were merged into one national level bank and designated as the Pradheshiya Sanwardana Bank (Regional Development Bank/RDB).