Bankers would no doubt agree: after this, neither depositors nor investors will be in a hurry to put money into a bank in Argentina.

ECONOMIST: Argentina's economy

If the Fed were to reduce rates to a negative level, it would result in a politically unpalatable situation where depositors are charged to put their money into a bank.

FORBES: Fed's Next Move Will Be To Ease Interest Rates

You put your money into a bank and the bank then lends it out to someone else.

FORBES: What Caused The Great Financial Crash: Gary Gorton Is Right

"Who's going to want to put money into brokers if it gets put into a bad bank, " Hendler said Sunday.

FORBES: Lehman's Debt Debacle

One important consequence would be that in the next banking crisis, the Bank of England would not - in theory - have to call on the Treasury to put quite so much money into a Royal Bank of Scotland or an HBOS that was facing collapse, because the creditors of those banks would be forced to become shareholders.

BBC: The cost of making big banks safe

In the case of raising capital, the Treasury is making it crystal clear that it does not want taxpayers to put a bean of new money into Royal Bank of Scotland or Lloyds, the banks where the state has holdings of 80% and 40% respectively.

BBC: How big is the 'material' hole in banks?

Cash could be put into the service using a credit card, bank wire, postal money order or other money transfer service.

BBC: Liberty Reserve