There is a primer on money transfers and crypto currencies: http://gendal.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/a-simple-explanation-of-how-money-moves-around-the-banking-sy

There is a primer on money transfers and crypto currencies: http://gendal.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/a-simple-explanation-of-how-money-moves-around-the-banking-system/ http://gendal.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/a-simple-explanation-... tldr: Even transfers within a single country are very complicated. Your bank just hides the complexity from you.