ABSTRACT
By this point in the evolution of the digital era, we have almost forgotten the original btmchi-the trestle tables at medieval fairs,, where bankers and their clients met face-to-face to exchange promises. Accommodating a bank's operations has ceased to be primarily a matter of providing appropriate rooms and circulation (as it was when Sir John Soane designed the Bank of England on three acres of ground in the heart of the City of Lon don), but of configuring the right computer systems. Gaze in wonder at Soane's plan, noting the precisely dif ferentiated functions of his great transaction halls-the Bank Stock Office, Accounts Office, Discount Office, even Five Pound Note Office; we will never see the like again (Fig. 7). In sum, we are experiencing the step-bystep emergence of the soft bank-a round-the-clock fa cility, accessible from indefinitely many locations, and providing electronically mediated withdrawals, deposits, bill payments, check cashing, point-of-sale transactions, travelers' checks, loan applications, statements, and whatever other financial services the banking industry can dream up arid sell (Barone, 1993).
