...I understand that there is also an automated bank security system that stops some payments (and I noted this right away, this is their control over my money)...
It's not your money if it's in a bank. It's the banks money until they pay you back.
If we start to go into philosophy, then after the rejection of coins made of precious metals, I have no fiat money left under control at all, because just like the bank controls my deposit, the issuer controls the entire amount of money issued by him. Let's say the bank returns my deposit, but the issuer can immediately announce that this type of banknote is no longer valid. So that's how the whole fiat system works. And we know a decentralized alternative to it.