The Banking House is a type of commercial building in Napoleon: Total War.
Description[]
Banking houses make a significant contribution to the wealth of a region by providing finances to fuel industry and trade.
Banking houses are generally found in centres of trade and are responsible for financing various enterprises, from small commercial ventures to a country's entire war effort. As these houses accumulate greater wealth they become increasingly powerful.
Historically, one of the oldest merchant banks in Britain was the Barings Bank, established in 1762 by father and son Francis and John Baring. They were best known for their involvement in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The United States of America wanted to purchase the territory of Louisiana from the French, but impending war with Britain led to a French refusal to accept the bonds that America offered as payment. During the temporary period of peace, Barings acted as an intermediary between the two countries, buying the bonds at a cut down price from Napoleon and providing him with the equivalent gold, which came to $8,831,250. Barings is better remembered today for its spectacular collapse in 1995, after speculation by one of its traders broke the bank.
General Information[]
Banking houses double the effect of merchant houses, but costs three times more to build. In the long run, however, they handsomely pay for themselves due to their massive boost to town wealth growth. They provide the third greatest town wealth growth per turn out of any structure, behind trading companies and industrial gold mines, but they generate the same amount of global town wealth growth as their competitors at half the cost.
Without counting global town wealth growth, banking houses pay for themselves after 41-56 turns depending on tax rate. The global boost to town wealth growth, however, is potent over time, particularly to larger factions.
The Peninsular Campaign[]
In The Peninsular Campaign, banking houses are cheaper and require less time to build, making them even more worthwhile to sink money into. At the beginning of the campaign, banking houses are particularly valuable to the French, who control most regions. They are far less productive for the other factions initially, but are still excellent sources of money for any faction in the long run.
Trivia[]
- The description text erroneously states that Francis and John Baring were father and son: in reality, they were brothers. Their father, Johann Baring, anglicized his first name to John after moving from Germany to England; however, the elder John Baring was a wool merchant and died before his sons started their partnership.