It is said that cryptocurrency was invented to replace banks and there is no better explanation to this than what happened today 09/08/2018 on Ugandan Twitter!
The crypto people have always sung all types of songs about how crypto is the future and how banks cheat people of their hard-earned money, but people do not want to offer a listening ear.
There has been a trending tweet by a Ugandan owned bank that actually charges its customers for checking their bank balances!
Yes, you read that right, there is a bank in Uganda that charges UGX 600 approx $0.16 just to check their balance on the app!
Let me give a brief of how the whole conversation started so that we can follow along.
A Twitter user known by the name of Quenga tweeted about how banks are weird by telling clients to open accounts online and later on tell these same clients to physically visit the nearest branch to activate that account!
Another user by the name Muramuzi Edwin replied of how one of the banks(Centenary Bank) charges its client for just using the APP!
It is after Edwin mentioned the bank that one of their social media handlers with initials JA said that they charge UGX 600 for checking their balance on the App!
Let me quote exactly what the bank replied
Kindly be informed that downloading and opening the CenteMobile App is free of charge. You are only charged for transacting. For example, checking account balance is UGX 600 and transferring funds to another account in the bank is UGX 1,000. ^JA
Here below is the tweet in case you want to follow the convo
https://twitter.com/CentenaryBank/status/1424649391802048515
- CentenaryBank
According to the social media manager known as JA of Centenary Bank, the bank charges only for transacting like checking balances at 600UGX($0.17) and also charges 1000 UGX to transfer money to another account.
If we do the mathematics, it means that if a client just checks their account once using the App daily for a full year(365 days) then he would have been charged 600*365=219000 UGX and that is $61.96 at the current rate
Remember this is just if a customer checks only once per day and the fees per year are close to the average monthly salary here.
This tweet by Centenary Bank has caused a lot of outcry from the young people who mostly love to use Apps and it so far has received 319 quote tweets, 31 retweets and 815 likes at the time the screenshot was taken.
It has to be noted that Centernary Bank is a Ugandan owned bank which was founded as a credit trust in 1983
This tweet just shows how banks cheat the local population and many people have shared their experiences with banks which obviously are not great experiences!
In the next paragraphs below I will talk of reasons why Ugandans should ditch banks and embrace crypto!
As I was checking through the quoted tweets, someone actually confirmed with a bank statement that the banks indeed does charge for checking balances using the App, fuck!
Image source Tweet
6 Reasons Why Ugandans Should Ditch Banks And Embrace Cryptocurrency
Let me now talk about the advantages of crypto below so that you might be convinced to make the transition from banks to crypto easily.
Let me first give the simple definition of crypto before I go any further.
Cryptocurrency is a digital currency that is secured by cryptography and not issued by a central entity like a bank or government hence decentralized!
Yuck, Jarau you just confused me and I did not understand anything you said above!
Okay, let me make it simpler below as the above definition was kinda technical and textbook-like!
Cryptocurrency is money in digital form just like you see Mobile money, and it is not issued(not centralized) by the government or banks hence making it decentralized and also cannot be counterfeited.
The first cryptocurrency was/is Bitcoin what I guess you have heard of several times.
Bitcoin is a digital currency that can be used as a medium of exchange and is not issued by the government!
But Jarau, the bank of Uganda banned and warned us not to take part in these crypto or bitcoin things!
Yes, you are right, the Bank of Uganda warned us to stop engaging n scams that masquerade as crypto or bitcoin.
So Jarau you mean the government did not ban bitcoin? No government can ban Bitcoin because it is not under any government or nation's control!
This is getting interesting you might say, in fact, Bitcoin the first crypto was invented 12 years as a way to bypass banks and governments as governments had caused the 2008 great recession!
You can go and read about the history of Bitcoin on Google or start by checking this Forbes article and also what caused the 2008 great recession, all this info is on Google or Youtube.
Okay enough of the yada yada shit, let us get into the main reason I wrote this post.
1.Banks Charge Monthly Fess and Crypto Doesn't
If you are in Uganda or any part of the world and own a bank account then you know that the bank charges you to keep your own money, how ironic!
It has to be stated that my first bank account was with this same bank Centenary, I opened it in 2009 and they used to charge me monthly charges to keep my money.
They charge you automatically even if you have no money in the account haha, I remember some months I would be in a negative balance because I had not deposited money for some months but the bank kept deducting their fees just waiting for me to deposit hehe.
In crypto, you are your own bank and no charges are levied on you for keeping your money. For God's sake, it is your fucking money why charge you for keeping it!
So folks ditch banks and transfer or convert your money into crypto and never pay any monthly fees for life.
2.Banks Charge Checking Balance fees on App and Crypto Doesn't
I think this should have been the first point because it is the idea behind this post!
I am really shocked that a bank would charge you for checking your own balance! As I read through the replies there are also other banks that charge this fee too, so it is not only Centenary Bank.
In Crypto, you are not charged any fee to check your balance on your wallet App.
I in fact I replied to that tweet that if Trust Wallet would charge fees for checking my balance on the App then I would be very poor by now given the fact that I check my Trust wallet App over 20 times a day!
So again folks, get into crypto and save that money you be charged for checking your own balance on an aPP on your phone!
3.Transaction Fess and Time
Most banks charge high transaction fees to transfer money to other accounts like for Centenary it is 1000 UGX.
In Crypto, you can send big amounts of money with very low fees or even zero fees like with Hive in a very short time.
It is also difficult to send large sums of money internationally using banks, unlike crypto which is so easy.
For those who have used Western Union or MoneyGram before, you know how much fees are deducted from you when sending or withdrawing.
So if you are overseas and would love to send some money to your loved ones in Uganda then better use crypto as it is quick and also low fees transactions.
4. Ease of Opening
I once owned a bank account and I know the hustles of opening one and to tell you the truth, it is tiresome!
You need a lot of details to open up a bank account like a Passport, National ID and even proof of residence unlike in crypto where to open up a wallet, all you need is an internet connection and email address.
It is really easy to open up a crypto wallet as all is needed is an email address and boom you have a wallet where you can start storing your money.
5.Control Over Ypir mONEY
Did you know that the bank can refuse you from withdrawing your own hard-earned money from your(their) bank account?
I know you have heard or read of stories whereby people's bank accounts have been frozen, this cannot happen in crypto as you are the one in charge of your money.
In crypto, you are the only one in charge of your money and you can do anything with it without restriction.
6. Inflation
Did you know that your money loses value the more it stays in the bank?
For proof of this, do you think the 2M UGX you left in the bank 5 years ago is still the same value now? Sorry to break it to you, your 2M UGX might now be 1.4M UGX or even less.
The economists define inflation as the decline of purchasing power of a given currency over a particular time.
When the purchasing power of a given currency declines then the prices of goods rise hence people are able to buy less food with the same money.
Anyway, I am not an economist, but most, if not all government currencies undergo inflation! If you put your money in crypto, you have a hedge over inflation.
Governments can decide to print unlimited amounts of money in the country and this can fuck up the nation unlike with crypto a fixed supply of crypto like for bitcoin 21M only is made hence the value of Bitcoin is expected to keep rising as the supply decreases and demand increases.
The whole concept of crypto is on demand and supply, if there are only 21M Bitcoin and the demand is increasing and the supply is fixed(reducing) then obviously with the little economics you studied that should make the price of bitcoin keep going higher and higher.
This is the reason you have always heard those crypto friends of yours whom you label weird btw( we know how you call us haha) say that the Bitcoin price will keep rising.
But Jarau, the Bitcoin price right now is less than what it was around December-January, yes the price rises and falls depending on demand and supply.
In the long term the price will be much higher than our UGX hehe, right now Bitcoin is around $45,000, in a few years, it will be above this price because of the fixed supply of 21M of which 18.7Bitcoin are already in circulation.
So if you want a hedge against inflation, buy yourself some crypto which is very easy btw.
But Jarau, many people in Uganda have been scammed with this Bitcoin thing and the Bank of Uganda warned us against it.
Yes, many people have been scammed in almost every field and crypto hasn't survived too.
So you just have to be cautious when approached by people claiming to give you insane returns by trading crypto.
I wrote a post two years ago on 4 ways to detect crypto scams, maybe you can check it out.
Again if something is too good to be true, then it probably is ain't true!
So maybe you want to test this crypto thing and you are wondering how to get started, you can contact me, or that Bitcoin friend of yours or just read this post below.
How To Buy And Sell Bitcoin In Uganda
So in conclusion, there are many reasons you need to ditch banks and embrace crypto as shown above.
I know you have that bitcoin friend who always tells you about this bitcoin thing, now is the time to engage them in a meaningful conversation as you also make your own personal research on Google.
As I finish this post, did you know that you can earn a small amount of Crypto through writing a post like this, you will see a dollar value at the bottom of this post!
If you can write about sports, banks, finance, health or even love playing video games, you can actually turn that passion into money and get paid in crypto.
Read this post below and if you think you are a good fit, do not hesitate to contact me below.
How To Earn Crypto In Uganda Through Writing and playing Online Games
If you want to learn more about Crypto and maybe buy your first small amount of crypto contact me below.
Twitter on Jarau Moses
Facebook as Jarau Moses
Facebook Page Jarau Moses
Telegram as Jarau Moses
Instagram as Jarau Moses
Linkedin as Jarau Moses
Discord as jaraumoses#9507
Love
Jarau Moses