dis·in·ter·me·di·a·tion

(dĭs-ĭn′tər-mē′dē-ā′shən)

1. The elimination of intermediary agents in transactions between buyers and sellers.

2. Withdrawal of funds from intermediary financial institutions, such as banks and savings and loan associations, in order to invest in instruments yielding a higher return.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

disintermediation

(dɪsˌɪntəˌmiːdɪˈeɪʃən)

(Banking & Finance) finance the elimination of such financial intermediaries as banks and brokers in transactions between principals, often as a result of deregulation and the use of computers

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

disintermediation

an economic phenomenon of the late 1970s and early 1980s in which investors, flnding that conventional savings and thrift methods did not pay sufficient interest to keep pace with inflation, transferred their funds to the money market and related savings and investment instruments, leading to a rapid growth in those resources and a loss of funds from institutions like savings banks.