Just as in other ancient civilizations, the first banks in Rome began in the temples consecrated to the ancient Gods. Many temples held in their basements the Romans' money and treasure, and were involved in banking activities such as lending. Because they were always occupied by devout workers and priests and regularly patrolled by soldiers, wealthy Romans felt they were safe places to deposit money. Money was commonly stored in various different temples for both practical and security reasons as a temple could catch fire or be ransacked. Priests kept track of deposits and loans. Temples did not pay interest on deposits but charged interest on loans and were involved in currency exchange and validation. There were literally thousands of temples throughout the Roman territories that were also repositories noting that during the Empire public deposits gradually started to be held in private repositories. The Temple of Saturn in Rome housed the Aerarium which was Rome's public treasury. Some temples such as the Juno Moneta temple were also mints.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original content at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/974/banking-in-the-roman-world/.