In the UK, most of the top five searches included an intermediary of the Co-operative Bank called 'Platform'.

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However, if I agree that the bank act as an intermediary and lend out the gold, that is a different situation.

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Previously, it was cumbersome for bitcoin account holders to transact in national currencies because they had to go through one or more exchanges and then wait further for funds to arrive in a bank account or other intermediary like the formerly bitcoin-friendly Paxum.

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In the case of Visa and MasterCard (nyse: MA - news - people ), when a credit card is swiped, the transaction gets relayed--via an intermediary--to the credit card company, which then sluices the funds to the merchant's bank account.

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