The middle of a financial transaction is a profitable place to be. An intermediary that can connect buyers and sellers, or borrowers and lenders, has always been able to charge handsomely for its services.

Much to the discomfiture of many traditional intermediaries that have long been in that lucrative spot in the middle, new challengers have started elbowing in. "Disintermediation" has become a term to strike fear into some very big and long-established financial institutions.