Bank

Bank
Building information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Economic
Civilization	Dutch
Age	Exploration Age
Use	Generates 2.75 coin every second
Construction
Food	350
Wood	350
Max. builders	8
Build time	30 seconds
Build limit	5
Statistics
Hit points	4,000
Line of Sight	12
XP build bounty	140
XP bounty	280

“	Dutch building that produces Coin.	”
—In-game description

The Bank is an economic building in Age of Empires III that is unique to the Dutch. It generates 2.75 coin (3.3 coin with the "Tulip Speculation" Home City Card) per second.

Tactics

The Bank has a build limit of five, which can be increased with the "Bank of Amsterdam" and "Bank of Rotterdam" Home City Cards (each increasing the Bank's build limit by 1), Coffee Trade (+2, requires the "Religious Freedom" Home City Card), and Excessive Taxation (+2), for a total of 11 Banks.

With the unique ability to produce infinite coin at a startling rate, Banks allow the Dutch to focus their Settlers on collecting food and wood, use Markets to their advantage and buy up large amounts of resources if a quick age jump is needed, and hire endless streams of mercenaries more easily than other civilizations (via the Saloon or infinite shipments of Carib Blowgunners, Fusiliers and Privateers).

The total coin production with eleven Banks and "Tulip Speculation" is 36.3 coin per second, or 2,178 coin per minute on top of normal means of coin production. Combined with both Factories set to produce coin with Steam Power, the total coin per second becomes 50.6, or 3,036 per minute without Settlers.

In the Definitive Edition, revolting to South Africa increases the coin generation rate of Banks by 10%, or to 3.025 (3.63 if "Tulip Speculation" is sent before revolting) coin per second.

Civilization differences

• The Japanese can build one (and only one) Bank by allying with the Dutch at the Consulate (requires a level 25 Home City), which provides the Bank Wagon shipment that ships the namesake to build a Bank for free.
• The United States can build one Bank with a Bank Wagon sent through the "Dutch Immigrants" Home City Card. If the Bank Wagon or the Bank it was built with were destroyed, the Bank Wagon can be retrained at the State Capitol for 350 food and 350 wood.

Further statistics

As Banks are unique to the Dutch, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

Building strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Nothing
Weak vs.	Everything
Improvements
Hit points	Flying Buttress (+20%)
Sight	Gas Lighting (+4)
Construction cost	Cree Textile Craftsmanship (-25% wood) Tupi Forest Burning (-20% wood)
Other	Coffee Trade (+2 build limit) Excessive Taxation (+2 build limit)

Home City Cards

As Banks are unique to the Dutch, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Bank

Dutch Card Description Age HC level Improved Buildings Buildings get +40% hit points 10 Bank of Amsterdam Bank build limit +1; Settler train limit +5 1 Bank of Rotterdam Bank build limit +1; Settler train limit +5 1 Tulip Speculation Banks generate +20% coin 25 Dutch East India Company Banks get +100% hit points and cost -15% 25 Indians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Improved Buildings Buildings get +25% hit points 10

Changelog

Age of Empires III

• Banks have a build limit of 4.
• Banks have a build bounty of 70 XP and a destroy bounty of 140 XP.
• "Tulip Speculation" increases Banks' coin generation rate by 15%.

Definitive Edition

• Banks now have a build limit of 5.
• Banks now have a build bounty of 140 XP and a destroy bounty of 280 XP.
• "Tulip Speculation" now increases Banks' coin generation rate by 20%.
• South Africa introduced.

History

“

The seventeenth century saw the founding of the Wisselbank of Amsterdam. This financial institution rapidly became the wealthiest and most powerful bank in existence. They were the first to accept and actively promote the exchange of checks, and the government passed laws stating that large transactions between two parties had to be brokered by the Wisselbank. The successes of the Dutch East India Company kept Dutch coffers full and flowing, and the Dutch economy soared. Trade in tulips, iconically Dutch flowers, rose dramatically in the middle of the seventeenth century and crashed even more dramatically. A single tulip bulb at the height of the craze could purchase an entire estate. These bulbs were bought and sold on paper. This, with the practices of the Wisselbank of Amsterdam, put Holland on the cutting edge of finance. As prices skyrocketed, some people seeking to lock in their profits sold off their tulips at lower than peak prices, sending a ripple of fear through the market that grew to widespread panic as everyone began to realize these tulips, while beautiful, were just bulbs, cousins of the onion, and not worth a house, a life savings or even carriage with a pair of matched gray horses.

”

Gallery

An in game Bank