The first bank in the world created as a formal financial institution was the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, founded in 1472 in Siena, Italy. It is still operating today, making it the oldest bank with continuous financial operations.
Before this formal bank, banking-like activities such as lending and deposit keeping were conducted in ancient civilizations like Mesopotamia (around 2000 BCE), where priests managed deposits and loans, and in ancient Greece and Rome, where temples acted as depositories and lenders.
The Medici Bank, established by Giovanni Medici in Florence in 1397, was one of the early significant banking institutions during the Renaissance but came after Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena was founded.
In the United States, the first national bank was the First Bank of the United States, chartered by Congress in 1791 with Alexander Hamilton as a key proponent, but this came much later than the earliest European banks.
Thus, the earliest recognized formal bank institution creator was the founders of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena in 1472 Italy.
