SWIFT transfers are notorious for taking long and costing a lot, but this was highlighted when it was recently revealed that a UK charity could not get £11,000 to 36 orphans in Zambia after weeks of waiting.

The sending bank, Barclays, blames a lack of communication from the receiving bank in Zambia, but the charity organizers were just happy to get their money back after being in limbo. The issue was exposed during an investigation by the Observer, whom also discovered many similar experiences by other bank users. Typically, users can expect SWIFT to make transfers in a few days, but it can take as long as a few weeks depending on the country, which is not to even mention the extraordinary fees. At this rate it becomes faster to put the cash in a briefcase and hand deliver the amount.

However, this then highlights another problem of the current financial system around the world – withdrawing your own money. Due to current anti-money laundering laws, it can often become a hassle to withdraw your own money, depending on the amount. Within the US, between $2,000-$10,000 USD it is at the bank’s discretion to file regulatory forms, but after $10,000 USD it becomes mandatory. To bring into perspective, $10,000 USD is often not even enough to buy a moderately well-maintained used car. Many banks around the world also self-impose ATM withdraw limits, which highlights fractional reserve banking and the fact that banks do not have enough cash on hand to fulfill all their liabilities.

Cryptocurrencies provide faster, cheaper, and better solutions

Cryptocurrencies eliminate these hassles since transfers can be made in minutes for a few dollars on the slowest networks. On faster networks, such as Dash, an InstantSend transaction can be made, right now, in 1-2 seconds for $0.01-$0.02 USD, which is about to become the norm with Automatic InstantSend. Additionally, transactions can be followed since blockchains are public, so if a receiver claims to have never gotten the money, like the instance above, consumers can track their money rather than relying on the word of third parties. Cryptocurrencies also empower consumers the full right to own and use their money, since as eluded to above, significant amounts of money stored in banks cannot be withdrawn, in whole, without significant delays and/or forms to complete.

Banks have also been bad stewards of their clients’ data through numerous data compromises, which cryptocurrencies help mitigate. Then some countries are attempting to further ban or limit the use of cash, which combined with the fact that many low income individuals remain unbanked, further impedes remittances. So if remitters want to send money via centralized digital currency or physical cash, they have to be prepared for hefty wait times and fees. Decentralized digital currency gives power back to individual consumers and merchants, which more easily enables remittances than with the current system.

Dash provides a usable solution

Dash utilizes its super fast speed and incredibly low fees to provide remittance services to individuals all around the world. The Dash Core Group Business Development Team is focusing on the US-Mexico corridor, while Dash India is focusing on one of the largest remittance markets in the world.

Dash not only focuses on making remittances easier through faster speeds and lower fees, but also by focusing on ease of use and making the process of acquiring and spending Dash easier. Recently, Dash announced the integration of new exchanges in Mongolia and Singapore , which adds to its exchange portfolio across numerous countries.

Dash’s focus on merchant adoption further improves the remittance process by enabling individuals that receive remittances to easily spend the Dash that they receive rather than having to worry about exchanging back into their local fiat currency. Dash already has over 4,000 merchants and numerous ATMs around the world, which are both constantly growing and making the remittance process easier from sending to spending.