Furthermore "qianzhuang" tended to be very locally run operations and were typically run only by a single family, or a close set of associates, in contrast the "piaohao" maintained branch offices across China, this allowed money to be paid into one branch office and withdrawn from another branch office - essentially "sent" - without there to be any actual physical silver sycees or strings of copper-alloy cash coins having to be arduously transported, under heavy guard, across great distances bringing many risks with them.