[web4]

that limit depends on your bank. for large transfers you will often need to visit your branch in person which can be a multi day process.

and yes UK faster payments system is great but it is not yet the backbone of global payment processing. the world is larger than the UK and as we continue to connect globally online and become more digitally nomadic there will be more need to pay users outside of a UK-to-UK bank system.

[FireBeyond]

If you're the kind of person that regularly wires six digit sums in and out of your personal account, I suspect that one, if not both of the following are true: 1) that you've chosen your banking institution with a view to being expedient in such transfers, and 2) are on a known basis with sufficiently senior branch/bank personnel as to help establish parameters with them on legitimacy of such transfers.

[web4]

yep. the rich tend to be given access to better banking services than the poor: higher limits, direct line of contact with a bank manager, additional services. when your account reaches a certain wealth threshold the bank will step in to ensure you have a better experience than the poor.

banking is a radically different design philosophy than a protocol where all addresses and transactions are treated equally regardless of wealth, class, and other social factors like race and family connections.

[FireBeyond]

It is self-fulfilling in regards to your point though.

"Oh, that's not a useful system, because there are limits."

"Well, when you get near those limits the bank starts to work with you so those are still not roadblocks."

"Oh, well that's just because they prefer the rich to the poor."

No, you miss the point. At lower amounts, it's a non-issue because you're not hitting limits. At the point where you are hitting limits, it's facilitated to smooth those things. End result is that there should be few issues, regardless of amounts.

[web4]

the system can and does favour those by social class, connections, race, gender. discrimination in financial and lending services is a well documented issue. the fact that the banking system “imposes limits and barriers until you reach a certain social class” is not a point in favour of the banking system.

most private clients are getting cushy services such as better lending and interest rates, faster payment times, better wealth management services.

but I digress. the banks are useful obviously, despite their flaws, and in the EU and UK the banks tend to be some of the best in the world. this is not to say banks as a whole are useless, but banking systems on average across the globe have many aspects that fall short of our ideals. crypto does not fill all of those, and has plenty of flaws and issues as well, but it does excel in certain areas and at the very least provide a competition that forces us to more closely consider the pitfalls of our typical financial structures.