Ready to turn your cities into gold mines? In Civilization 7, building a bank is your key to unlocking a steady flow of wealth that can fuel your empire’s expansion and power. But this isn’t just any structure – it’s a strategic milestone that requires careful research and planning, appearing only after you’ve mastered the Exploration Age’s Urban Planning technology. Discover how to unlock, build, and maximize the benefits of banks to dominate the economic landscape across PC, Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms in our comprehensive guide.
Our Civilization 7 guide will tell you what you need to research to unlock banks and the requirements for how to build a bank.
How to unlock banks in Civilization 7
To unlock banks in Civilization 7, you need to research the Urban Planning technology in the Exploration Age tech tree. This technology is located near the far right of the tree, just before Future Tech, meaning you must progress through much of the tech tree, including Astronomy, Cartography, Heraldry, Feudalism, Guilds, Shipbuilding, Education, and Architecture, before banks become available. Banks can only be built in cities (not towns) and require around 250-260 production to construct. Once built, banks provide a base yield of +5 gold per turn, with additional bonuses depending on adjacent terrain and buildings. They also cost 3 happiness per turn to maintain.
Banks are an Exploration Age building, so you’ll have to advance out of the Antiquity Age before they’ll even become an option.
Banks are unlocked by researching Urban Planning in the Exploration Age Tech tree. You’ll find it almost all the way to the right, just before Future Tech. That means you’ll need to research almost the entire tree before you can start building banks. At minimum, you’ll need to research Astronomy, Cartography, Heraldry, Feudalism, Guilds, Shipbuilding, Education, and Architecture first.
How to build a bank in Civilization 7
To build a bank in Civilization 7, you first need to progress to the Exploration Age and research the Urban Planning technology, which unlocks the bank building. Banks can only be constructed in cities, not towns, and require around 250-260 production to build. Once built, a bank provides a base yield of +5 gold per turn, with additional gold bonuses for adjacency to navigable rivers, coastal terrain, wonders, and quarters. However, maintaining a bank costs 3 happiness per turn from the city. Building banks is a strategic way to boost your empire’s gold income and is also part of certain quest objectives in the game.
Banks can only be built in cities, not in towns. They require quite a bit of production to get built – somewhere around 250 to 260 Production, depending on how your town and civilization’s Happiness figures in. Once built, it’ll start generating a base of at least 5 gold per turn with additional gold available based on location and neighboring tiles.
Want to discover the secret steps to unlock a bank in Civilization 7
To unlock a bank in Civilization 7, you must first advance beyond the Antiquity Age and research the Urban Planning technology in the Exploration Age tech tree. This technology is located near the far right of the tree, requiring you to have completed much of the Exploration Age research beforehand. Only after unlocking Urban Planning can you construct banks in your cities, which generate gold income but also require a production investment of around 250 to 260 and cost 3 Happiness per turn to maintain. Banks play a key role in boosting your economy, especially if you are pursuing an Economic Legacy Path or narrative objectives involving precious metals.
What are the hidden steps to unlock a bank in Civilization 7
The hidden steps to unlock a bank in Civilization 7 go beyond simply reaching the Exploration Age. First, you must research a series of prerequisite technologies in the Exploration Age tech tree, including Astronomy, Cartography, Heraldry, Feudalism, Guilds, Shipbuilding, Education, and Architecture. Only after completing these can you unlock Urban Planning, the key technology that enables the construction of banks. This means you need to nearly complete the entire Exploration Age tech tree before banks become available. Additionally, banks can only be built in cities (not towns), require significant production (around 250-260), and cost 3 Happiness per turn to maintain. Once built, banks provide a base of +5 gold per turn plus bonuses for adjacency to navigable rivers, coastal terrain, wonders, and quarters, making their placement strategic for maximizing gold income.
