Two Centuries of Apex Banking: The State Bank of India and the

The Temples of Greece, believed to be the first banks in the world, held deposits of cash and also undertook remittance business.1 The priests turned the charge to good account and lent out at high interest the gold and silver deposited with them. The Travels of Anacharsis in Greece records that the money lent on trade could be as high as 30 per cent.2