Brutal...

 It seems as though a payment process is a (relatively) easy flow to sketch. There are many out there, but here is one:

http://mqs.gtpl.net/mqsubscribe/Help/Online_Payment_Flow.htm

Here's what's funny (not funny "haha" but funny "hmm") to me. This is one of the biggest money grabs in the world, almost $32 billion in 2021 alone. This explains why the space to process payments is so crowded and why there are so many companies acting as middlemen. In fact, the payment systems in the US are quite inefficient compared to those in many other developed countries.

But nobody wants to work with the consumer. Like... nobody.

I mean, I think this is true generally. We, as consumers, don't get the new new thing from companies because they think we are stupid, stubborn, unwilling to change, etc. etc. - and in many cases they are right. On the other hand the enterprise side of this world is loading up on new technology and the consumer has a government filled to the brim with octagenarians on his/her side. Rough stuff.

There are some basic ideas that could help the consumer quite a bit here. In particular, what if I want to change my bank or I get a new credit card. In all of this mess shouldn't I just be able to swap out the account and routing numbers for new ones and carry on with my life, payment rails intact? The answer seems to be "yes" but you can't do it. 

Why? 

Well, I suppose it's mostly because JPMorgan Chase won't build a tool to let you jump ship to Wells Fargo in a heartbeat. Admittedly you'd need to have an account at WFC anyway, so that gets in the way. But on the other other hand (back to the original hand?) you have to complete (basically) the same document every time you open a new account. You can't just say "see my existing account @ Bank Y instead, please."

SO if you want to open a new account you have to complete the same document again. If you need to change something you have to tell everyone one at a time. If something changes in your life and you don't tell these companies, then they never find out and keep at you with their data-driven marketing that is now more off-target then it was when your information was correct.

Brutal...