It is twenty years older than America!
What is it? Monte dei Paschi, of course, the bank of Siena which, born in 1472 as a pawn agency ("monte di pietà", in Italian), is now the most ancient existing bank.

Only a century and half after its foundation did it take its present name: around 1620 Grand Duke Ferdinand II of Tuscany decided to grant those who had deposited something at the Monte a state warranty obtained by entailing the rents of the pastures in the Maremma, which were called "paschi".

From then on, the bank has gradually and inexorably expanded.

In the 1930s, Monte dei Paschi opened some branches in Tuscany, and also in Perugia, Naples and Rome. After World War II and in the 1950s and 1960s, it opened braches in New York, Singapore, Frankfurt and London.

If you have planned to spend your holidays in a villa in Tuscany and you have rented a farmhouse in Siena you will certainly notice the strong bond between the bank and the town.
Monte dei Paschi gives its name to Siena basketball team, which has won the Italian championship four years in a row, and to the stadium of Siena; moreover, it is the main sponsor of the local football team.