A group of Neapolitan nobles founded the Monte della Pietà to offer no-interest loans on pledge, aiming to protect poorer residents from usurious moneylenders. This charitable credit model later became the seedbed for Naples’s “public banks,” which combined social welfare goals with increasingly sophisticated banking services.
The Monte dei Poveri was created as another charitable institution to support people in financial distress. Over time, it developed banking functions and is later counted among the eight Neapolitan public banks that operated until the Napoleonic-era restructuring.
In the late 1500s, the Monte della Pietà expanded from pawn lending into deposit-taking and payment services. In 1584 it received formal authorization to operate as a bank, marking a key step in turning charitable “mounts” into institutions that could move money safely through accounts.
The Casa Santa dell’Annunziata’s banking arm became one of the major “public banks” of Naples. Like its peers, it grew out of a charitable institution but performed core banking tasks such as accepting deposits and making payments within the city’s economy.
Between the late 1500s and mid-1600s, additional public banks were created in Naples, including Santa Maria del Popolo, Spirito Santo, Sant’Eligio, San Giacomo e Vittoria, and later the Salvatore. Together they formed a network of deposit and payment institutions rooted in charitable bodies, helping commerce function with safer, more traceable transactions.
In 1702, Banco dell’Annunziata failed in a serious financial shock that caused very large losses measured in millions of ducats. The collapse showed both the scale of these institutions and the risks created when deposit-taking banks were tied to broader political and fiscal instability.
In 1794, King Ferdinand IV of Bourbon ordered the administrative unification of the surviving Neapolitan public banks under the name Banco Nazionale di Napoli. This consolidation aimed to improve oversight and coordination while preserving the existing “casse” (operating units) that served depositors and public needs.
After the French takeover of the Kingdom of Naples, reforms pushed the banking system toward a more centralized model. In 1806, the Banco di San Giacomo was shifted toward state treasury functions (“Banco di Corte”), while other institutions were organized toward a combined “private” banking service for citizens.
In late 1808, the remaining “ancient” public banks were legally abolished as separate entities. This step cleared the way for a new structure built around share capital and more uniform rules, moving Naples’s public banking tradition toward a state-directed national institution.
A decree in December 1808 established a Banco Nazionale under the title Banco delle Due Sicilie, with an initial share capital set in ducats and a defined list of functions. Its intended role combined deposit services, lending against collateral, and discounting commercial paper—features associated with early central-banking-style public finance and credit support.
The new institution’s private-facing operations (“Cassa dei privati”) began operating from the Banco Pietà site in early 1809. This marked the practical transition from multiple charitable public banks to a reorganized system meant to serve both public administration and private commerce under standardized management.
In 1809, the Banco Nazionale delle Due Sicilie was merged with the competing Banco di Corte, creating a single Banco delle Due Sicilie serving government needs while also operating public-facing services. The merged institution worked through separate “casse,” including a court treasury function (Cassa di Corte) and a private customer function (Cassa dei privati).
By 1808–1809, the historic Neapolitan public banks (founded from 1539 onward) had been absorbed into the new Banco delle Due Sicilie framework, ending their centuries-long existence as separate institutions. This closing point marks a shift from locally rooted, charity-based public banking toward a more centralized, state-shaped banking structure in southern Italy.
Banco di Napoli and Bourbon-era public banking (1539–1808)