A friend bought me a cup of matcha in Bangladesh for $3. The bank first deducted a $0.30 fee, then told the shop owner, "Your money will arrive in 3 days."

Imagine this scenario: the customer has already finished the drink and used the restroom, but the shop owner is still waiting for the first payment to be credited. This is the most ironic part of the current payment clearing system—the transaction is completed instantly, but the fund flow has to go through the entire process.

Banks and payment intermediaries take their cut and delay settlements, and the final burden always falls on small merchants. The real issue isn't the fee itself, but this inefficient clearing mechanism. If payments could be settled in real-time, merchants wouldn't have to wait with funds on hold. That's why many people are optimistic about decentralized payment solutions—eliminating middlemen, so the money can arrive exactly when it should.