Twice yearly, I purchase some raw materials from overseas. To do that, I must walk to the bank for a scheduled appointment, inform the teller of the purpose of my purchase, give them all the remittance details, and they must record my state ID (driver's license).

Then, I wait as the clerk enters the data manually into her FedWire (or whatever it is) portal. She then places a phone call, and relays that same information to someone else. 15-20 minutes later, I am on my way back to the office with a paper confirmation in hand.

The transaction is typically ~$16,000, and I pay $60 in fees to the bank. I don't know what my vendor, the recipient of the funds, pays.

I then email my vendor that the purchase has been made, and they trust me for 3-5 business days while we wait for the settlement to take place.