[samjmck]

SEPA (instant) transfers between European banks are, as the name suggests, instant. There are also no transaction fees for the users of these transfers. e.g. all major Belgian banks support SEPA instant, so transfers between KBC <-> BNP Paribas <-> ING etc. are instant.

> Now I'm at the mercy of the bank regarding what I can do with that money.

This is going off-topic, but you are with crypto as well. Unless every merchant you use supports your cryptocurrency, you're going to have to convert it back to fiat.