faktotum

While I think your point is true that its much more abstract than people realize. When I worked at a bank and we disbursed loans and credited/debited fees it was from "GLs" (General Ledger?) which were basically just separate accounts to help keep track. Like we had a "member service" one which was for basically anything with good reason. One time someone did a very large amount but he just basically got told to do it a different way.

Its all just in a computer. I could've accidentally credited someone a million dollars but it would've been realized when I tried to close my drawer and balance everything out. And the branch would have to be balanced at the end of the day so I assume the bank did as well.

On a related note banks take out loans from other banks. I think a lot of people don't realize that banks have savings accounts so they have money to lend.

I just moved to a place with one of these! It's fantastic. The owner is the type of guy to come refill coffee himself.