Last week, my sister wanted to make a bank transfer. She’s living in Europe, and banks there use the SEPA bank transfer network. She wanted to send money outside of Europe, and the receiving bank used another transfer network called SWIFT. She had trouble navigating her online banking menus and options and asked for my help. While she had the money on her account, we found out that her bank didn’t allow for online SWIFT transfers, but only the European SEPA. She had to call her bank’s call center, and it took a few calls before an agent capable of helping her was on the line. After she managed to make her transfer, she called me and was shaken by the realization that her money is not ‘hers’ as much as it is the property of her bank’s software and processes.