3 ms·

Storage isn't the only consideration when comparing 'millions' of transactions to 'hundreds'.

• TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
  The banks still have to process millions of payments between them. But they also have to process the BoE payments - which is an added overhead. The only real benefit is confidence, because the BoE effectively acts as escrow for all parties. So no one has to worry that settlement won't happen. From the user's POV, it's not a bad system. It's vastly better than the situation ten years ago, when you literally had to wait a week for a cheque to clear - because the receiver had to validate it, and then post it back by snail mail to the originator. However, some transactions still use that system. I recently closed a savings account and could only transfer the money by physically taking a cheque from one bank to another, and waiting a week. Basic transaction processing should really be part of the national (international?) infrastructure. It would be hugely beneficial to all kinds of businesses to have a simple, secure publicly available service for moving money around, at all scales from microtransactions to many millions - ideally linked to a free no-credit-offered cash account for everyone.