Here's a tricky question for you. What are financial transactions nowadays?
The answer to that question would be that they are messages transmitted over a communication network. That's the way every bank transfer and credit card payment works. In fact, bank transfers are commonly referred to as wire transfers. You may have been wondering where this term comes from. Interestingly, it comes from telegraph networks, which are probably the oldest type of long-distance communication infrastructure. They transmit text messages over a wire. This is what Western Union started using in 1872 to transmit messages about payments. After a message with payment instructions was received at the destination, the local office made the payment to the designated person. That's how the concept of wiring money started.
This process has evolved through multiple steps until the present day, but at its core it continues to be based on transmitting messages. Financial networks are essentially communication networks.