It was in Stockholm nearly half a century later, with the foundation of the Stockholms Banco in 1657, that this barrier was broken through. Although it performed the same functions as the Dutch Wisselbank, the Banco was also designed to be a Lane-bank, meaning that it engaged in lending as well as facilitating commercial payments. By lending amounts in excess of its metallic reserve, it may be said to have pioneered the practice of what would later be known as fractional reserve banking, exploiting the fact that money left on deposit could profitably be lent out to borrowers.
