Why are Bank Holidays Still Relevant to Banks?

I’m surprised that in today’s world of electronic banking and “instant” money transfer that it still takes our banking system days to process some payments.

A couple of examples:-

I drew a building society cheque to pay in to a UK bank account, so not a personal cheque but one issued by a UK building society.  It took 5 working days to “clear”!

I made an electronic payment from my building society account to a UK bank account yesterday and was advised that the payment would not be transferred until 7th April!  I’m presuming because of the bank holidays.  But is this still relevant in this electronic era where the intervention of people, who have bank holidays, is no longer required.  I don’t know of any computers that have bank holidays off.

I am certain that the whole “clearing” system needs revising as the majority of payments no longer require any form of human intervention.  In a time when you can spend money from your bank account 24/7, 365 days a year, why do weekends, bank holidays etc matter.  I can buy anything on Easter Day, Christmas Day etc without being told that it is a bank holiday therefore I can’t access my account.

I’m not suggesting that clearing days aren’t required, I am not a banker, but as the 5 day rule has been around since before electronic payments, I’m sure that it is something that can be reviewed for the benefit of the customer.  I could understand 24 hours being required but come on, 5 days!!