Yes, but that is only one middleman, not 5 to 7, and my point had to do with the banks playing catch up to consolidate them as one middleman taking the collective cut of the 5 to 7 others.
I took the equivalent of $250 USD out of a Malaysian ATM with my Bank of America debit card. I was charged a $3.50 ATM fee by the Malaysian bank. BoA charged me $5.00 ATM fee, AND an $11.00 foreign transaction fee based upon the amount. I know they hedge exchange rates, but they already took the $5.00, and $11.00 is a lot more than my Bank of China account charges me 3x less to take money out in the US on my BoC debit card.
My credit card is not too bad, but the merchants are paying fees too on top of the 5 to 7 middlemen. Bitcoin or other would only be an improvement. People make the claim they want a bank to call or email with issues. Well, you cannot even email most issues to BoA. I have tried. You need to call them. They can send you secure messages in online banking that you can reply to, but you cannot initiate an issue.
I'll take the lower, single fee, that although not fully anonymous via tracking, is better than high fees with no real benefits. Trust me, I'm not delusional on this, only wishing for the better deal for me.
I took the equivalent of $250 USD out of a Malaysian ATM with my Bank of America debit card. I was charged a $3.50 ATM fee by the Malaysian bank. BoA charged me $5.00 ATM fee, AND an $11.00 foreign transaction fee based upon the amount. I know they hedge exchange rates, but they already took the $5.00, and $11.00 is a lot more than my Bank of China account charges me 3x less to take money out in the US on my BoC debit card.
My credit card is not too bad, but the merchants are paying fees too on top of the 5 to 7 middlemen. Bitcoin or other would only be an improvement. People make the claim they want a bank to call or email with issues. Well, you cannot even email most issues to BoA. I have tried. You need to call them. They can send you secure messages in online banking that you can reply to, but you cannot initiate an issue.
I'll take the lower, single fee, that although not fully anonymous via tracking, is better than high fees with no real benefits. Trust me, I'm not delusional on this, only wishing for the better deal for me.