I'll look into Wise, thanks. I've looked into (and tried out) dozens of possible options over the years, and they all sound good until you actually do them. Most require a lot more than they advertise up front, for example. Or after a few months they send you a form to fill out for govt oversight and taxation. Or things go well for a while but then they suddenly close up and disappear. There are a lot of people like me, who either can't or won't use banks, smart devices, or govt IDs. We're all looking for a way to get involved. If Wise has solved that, great, but I'm wondering why I haven't heard waves within the unbanked world.
Agree with your other sentiments.
I think that proverb was originally either Chinese, French, or from those uncontacted tribes in the deep jungle.