Banks are a massively significant cultural innovation. I can pay someone in a different country by pressing a button and it's a reliable, robust system.
In those days, it was a huge deal to be able to pay a merchant in France by giving gold, or even a paper representing ownership of gold, to a bank in England. Before, you had to send the money on a ship and hope for the best.
International banks led to a massive explosion in trade and global prosperity.
