It depends on who is writing the definition, the bankers or the truth.
Granted, despite the handicap of being an order of monks with a vow of poverty, the Templars developed a lucrative line in letters of credit that permitted pilgrims to draw on their wealth while traveling. And they were adept at financing their campaigns, generating income from donations of land, and profitably lending to Europe’s monarchs. Yet even in the cumulative, the Templars did much less than the accomplishments of Jakob Fuggars and his colleagues in establishing the beginnings of a European banking system.