> two companies (Visa, MasterCard) that have a global oligopoly and full control
For one set of rails. Wires, ACH, and a number of other payment rails exist and outclass Visa + MasterCard. (Also, technically, Visa and MasterCard are analogous to SWIFT. They process payment messages. Not the transfer of dollars per se. If they chose, they could execute transactions in Bitcoin with the issuing bank and merchant bank then settling the trade on the blockchain or whatever offline.)
For one set of rails. Wires, ACH, and a number of other payment rails exist and outclass Visa + MasterCard. (Also, technically, Visa and MasterCard are analogous to SWIFT. They process payment messages. Not the transfer of dollars per se. If they chose, they could execute transactions in Bitcoin with the issuing bank and merchant bank then settling the trade on the blockchain or whatever offline.)