Bank

A bank in Rome

A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates credit.

History

15th century

In Renaissance Italy, many minor noble families owned banks throughout the cities of Florence, San Gimignano, Forlì, and Venice, though most were controlled by the House of Pazzi, who covetously kept their hold on the cities' financial power by posting guards outside the buildings. Perhaps the sole exception to this was the Auditore International Bank, a family-run business owned and operated by the Italian Assassin Giovanni Auditore that primarily provided loans to the various kingdoms of Germania.

A group of guards protecting a bank

Up until 1476, both Giovanni's elder sons Federico and Ezio were in training to follow their ancestors and become bankers, with Federico apprenticing under a House of Medici bank before his pranks removed him from the payroll, while Ezio learned from their father's co-worker Giovanni Tornabuoni. While most banks, Giovanni's included, primarily contained florins from public accounts, a select few guarded by the House of Borgia also contained Codex pages, which Ezio recovered and took to the polymath Leonardo da Vinci to decode.

The town of Monteriggioni also possessed a bank that provided additional income for Ezio while he renovated the place. The excess funds were stored in a chest in the restored Villa Auditore and could be used to further improve the community. The bank was later destroyed in January 1500 during the Siege of Monteriggioni led by Cesare Borgia.

16th century

In the 16th century, there were ten banks scattered throughout Rome's districts. Once renovated as part of Ezio's plan to break the Borgia's power over the city, they would boost the amount of income generated in a neighborhood. This in turn would increase their vaults' limit, up to 80,000 florins.

Constantinople contained sixteen banks, which acted similarly to the ones in Rome, and had a larger limit of 120,000 akçe. Additionally, they could provide Ezio with money and bomb ingredients earned from other cities.

18th century

Madam Lee inside a bank in Macau

In 1725, the Dutch navigator Hendrik used a bank safe in Macau to conceal his sea log, which contained precious information about the location of an Isu temple in Angkor. Following Hendrik's death, the businesswoman Madam Lee purchased his sea log from the bank, paying a small fortune for it.

19th century

During the 19th century, the Templar and Governor of the Bank of England, Philip Twopenny, periodically orchestrated robberies of his own bank as a cover to transfer the money to the Templars. In 1868, his plans were discovered by the British Assassin Jacob Frye, who subsequently killed Twopenny inside the bank during one of his robberies.

During the confusion following Twopenny's death, several printing plates were stolen from the bank, causing London to be flooded with counterfeit currency and leading to a financial crisis. Fortunately, Jacob's sister Evie Frye was able to recover the plates and destroy the counterfeit money, solving the crisis.

20th century

By the early 20th century, the Templars had established their own banking firm, the Malta Banking Corporation, which they used as a front for their operations and later became part of the wider Abstergo Financial Group. In 1927, while delivering a package to the Templars in Shanghai, Darius Gift posed as a Malta Bank clerk.

21st century

Around 2011, the father of Owen Meyers participated in a failed robbery of a Malta Banking Corporation branch, leading to his arrest.

By 2012, Monteriggioni's bank had been rebuilt and re-established, with construction completed in 1802, and it was the only building that retained its purpose in the half millennium since the Renaissance.

In 2015, Charlotte de la Cruz worked at the Malta Banking Corporation's branch in San Diego, where she transferred $10,000 USD to the account of Ms. Morehead after learning that Morehead's insurance would not cover her daughter's healthcare. Charlotte's actions later led to her being fired.

Gallery

• 
  A bank in Rome before renovation
• 
  The Bank of England
• 
  Charlotte de la Cruz working at the Malta Banking Corporation

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed II (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Renaissance
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations
• Assassin's Creed comic
• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
• Assassin's Creed: Templars
• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants
• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple
• Assassin's Creed: Nexus VR (mentioned in Database entry only)