In fiction, a gold key is a special token granting access to and control of a mythical or ultra-private or secret bank

Bank

A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...

 account or vault, such as a Swiss bank account. In reality, the key is often a code word and accounts are not completely anonymous.
A real "gold key" need not be made of or colored gold, or even a key. If it is a key it may not fit any lock; the keys are important as authentication tokens, not always as literal keys. In the case of the GoldKey Security Token, a USB device developed by Roger Billings and a team of developers, the token acts as a physical "key" to electronic data.

While Swiss law formerly granted nearly-complete financial privacy, fully anonymous accounts are no longer available. Swiss banks are now required by law to obtain identifying information from any prospective clients. International pressure related to efforts to trace and identify terrorists

Terrorism

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

 and drug traffickers has eliminated the anonymous "Swiss bank account" that has appeared in numerous books and films and conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theory

A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...

. Other countries still offer bank accounts with varying degrees of anonymity. (See also: Offshore bank

Offshore bank

An offshore bank is a bank located outside the country of residence of the depositor, typically in a low tax jurisdiction that provides financial and legal advantages. These advantages typically include:...

; Anonymous banking.)

The arrival of a "gold key client" typically results in an extra flurry of attention. A number of plot devices detail the method of authentication of the account-holder, adding to the mystery and drama of the client's arrival. It is a common literary device that banks do not admit publicly that "gold key" accounts actually exist, and characters are therefore invested into a sort of secret society when they are offered such an account.

Literary references

In the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery-detective novel written by Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris's Louvre Museum and discover a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to...

, the heroine Sophie Neveu is given a gold key by her grandfather. The gold key bears the logo of the Priory of Sion

Priory of Sion

The Prieuré de Sion, translated from French as Priory of Sion, is a name given to multiple groups, both real and fictitious. The most notorious is a fringe fraternal organisation, founded and dissolved in France in 1956 by Pierre Plantard...

, a secret society, which leads Neveu and co-hero Robert Langdon to guess the code associated with the key.

In Lewis Perdue

Lewis Perdue

Lewis Perdue is the author of 20 published books including Daughter of God, and The Da Vinci Legacy. Perdue was sued by Random House in 2003 when he charged that Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code plagiarized those two books. Random House won the lawsuit but lost their demand to have Perdue pay their...

's Daughter of God there is a gold key which is hidden in a painting ("The Home of the Lady of Our Redeemer"). This gold key (accompanied by a gold ingot with the account number) allows access to a safe deposit box

Safe deposit box

A safe deposit box or wrongly referred to as a safety deposit box is an individually-secured container, usually held within a larger safe or bank vault. Safe deposit boxes are generally located in banks, post offices or other institutions...

 in a Zurich bank. The key does not actually open a lock as such.

In the Harry Potter

Harry Potter

Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...

 novels by J.K. Rowling, the wizarding bank Gringotts uses gold keys, among other devices, to protect the security of its vaults which contain wizards' gold hoards.