Transactions can be instantaneous if they are zero-confirmation transactions, meaning that the merchant takes on the risk of accepting a transaction that hasnt yet been confirmed by the bitcoin blockchain. Or, they can take around 10 minutes if a merchant requires the transaction to be confirmed. That is far faster than any inter-bank transfer.
Some merchants will charge a fee for debit card transactions too, as they have to pay a swipe fee for fulfilling them. Bitcoin transaction fees are minimal, or in some cases free.
With bitcoin, you own the private key and the corresponding public key that makes up a bitcoin address. No one can take that away from you (unless you lose it yourself, or host it with a web-based wallet service that loses it for you).