For several decades, we have been making the transition to using money through payment instruments (cards, transfers, digital wallets, electronic checks, etc.). But this has happened slowly, never at the speed at which everything migrates today to the digital world. And it is so, for two main reasons. Today we will talk about the first.
The process of issuing and using money is very complex, although at first glance it seems simple. I give an example: at the supermarket checkout you are paying with your bank card, be it debit or credit. You bring it closer or insert it into the veriphone or point of sale, and an approved or declined message will appear on the screen. If it is the first, a receipt is printed, you sign it if required, and you leave with your purchase.
But what really happens behind this operation? How is it that you can pay off a debt with a piece of plastic? Where is the money? A short answer could be: there are several systems that interoperate, that of the point of sale network, that of the issuing bank of the card, that of the card brand and that of the supermarket. These four systems, in seconds, must verify if the card is valid, if it has a balance or available credit, make the corresponding charge to the client and leave a record of that transaction. The operation is saved so that, at the end of the day, all the operations are sent to the Central Bank to be settled, which is nothing more than putting the amount of your purchase in the bank account used by the supermarket and subtracting it from the your bank account. As soon as the supermarket bank receives the money in your Central Bank account, it will put it, in its systems, in the supermarket account. And this happens every day, without fail, for all transactions carried out in the country with bank cards.
This process has been perfected for many years and works transparently for the client. And both this and the businesses trust that the money will reach its destination in the way the operation was agreed upon.