> Do transfers in the US really take three days, rather than a second or so?

They take about thirty minutes (Fedwire), given banks’ antifraud procedures. That said, I can wire moderate amounts (generally, less than $25,000) in seconds to known counterparties. There are also P2P rails like Venmo for small, instant transfers, though that’s a gross settlement system.

Not sure about the US but my SEPA transfers in the EU frequently do take 2-3 days (sometimes it's instant but at least with my German bank account it often isn't).

Simple solution: threaten to sue. SEPA transactions have to be done within a banking working day by law.

Now if you transfer on a Tuesday and the bank is closed on Wednesdays - tough luck, they're allowed to take till Thursday.

But there's always the option of doing an "instant" transfer if you're willing to pay extra.

My German online bank, N26, does free “instant” SEPA up to 2000 EUR. I think others do too but not all.

I did a SEPA transfer from a German N26 account yesterday and I have a message in the app that it might take 2-5 business days to reach the recipient. Instant transfers aren't universal.

In a country where cheques are still common, does this surprise you?

It can take 3 days for the amount to show up on an exchange, due to regulatory checks or holds applied by the exchange. Coinbase is famous for accepting deposits then immediately locking them for several days while they verify the account.

Not in the US so might be better but some of the time can be on the exchange end