This seems a little crazy, but, you don't actually have money in a bank account.... You are owed money by a bank. Everyone is actually passing back and forth IO

This seems a little crazy, but, you don't actually have money in a bank account.... You are owed money by a bank. Everyone is actually passing back and forth IOUs from banks when they pay for things digitally (or by check). It's one reason why there is a lot of complexity behind the scenes when you pay digitally. It's also the reason FDIC insurance exists. If you think about the fact that my "money" is an IOU from Chase and your "money" is an IOU from Bank of America - how do I send you "money"? It's a complicated dance with lots of different database entries. A central bank digital dollar would be IOUs from the central bank. It's closer to cash.