Banca (French pronunciation: [bɑ̃ka]; Basque: Banka)[3] is a commune of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.

[3][14] For John-Baptiste Orpustan, the origin of the name Banca can have two interpretations: one lent from the Spanish banco designating the bench on which money was exchanged (which gave the French word banque which gave the English bank) or two from bancs de pierre (stone benches).

Sources: Banca owes its origin to the revival in the 18th century of the copper mines which had operated in ancient times.

Banca was known as Le Fonderie (The Foundry) until the 19th century" and, under the Ancien Régime, it was a hamlet or district under the parish of Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry.

The remains of a large forge, a steel foundry started in 1828 on the site of the former copper smelter, stands at the entrance of the village on the banks of the Nive des Aldudes.