Banking has never been as easy as it should be and it seems that with the passing of time the process continues to get worse. Of course, opening a bank account is relatively easy and depending on which bank you choose, and where you live, depositing funds can be fairly effortless.

The complaints start when one looks at minimum balance requirements, fees for just ‘having an account’, penalties that ensue when one’s balance drops below the minimum balance threshold, and the unpredictable amount of time it takes to conduct interbank domestic transfers and international wires.

If you’ve ever wondered what Dante’s ninth level of hell is like just go online or to your local bank and try to take a personal or business loan.

The process is arduous, paper ladden and extremely slow. Plus, one must complete all the documentation first before figuring out whether funds will be granted or not.

How DeFi is a game changer

Fortunately, there is a solution to the nightmare of dealing with traditional banks. Decentralized finance (DeFi) allows entrepreneurs, investors and savers to do more with their funds outside of the boundaries of multinational banks and the government. DeFi users have an impressive array of options to choose from, including: peer-to-peer lending, institutional lending, stablecoin and cryptocurrency interest bearing savings accounts, personal loans, and basic banking services.

Celsius allows cryptocurrency investors to avoid crypto-market volatility by sheltering in stablecoins and users earn interest on their account with zero conditions.

Compound and BlockFi offer crypto-money market fund like services which allow users to earn interest on their crypto and stablecoin stack.

Dharma allows members to issue and underwrite debt in a variety of digital currencies to gain a respectable return on their ‘staked’ investment.

Recently, Alex Pack, the managing partner at Dragonfly Capital, told Forbes:

“The goal of DeFi is to reconstruct the banking system for the whole world in this open, permissionless way. You only get this shot every 50 years.”

Similar to the ideology behind cryptocurrencies, DeFi allows investors, entrepreneurs, and savers to take full control of their funds and know that they are not being mishandled or used for investing schemes that enrich the institutions that hold their funds.

Bain Capital Ventures partner Salil Deshpande said DeFi users “like that they can build censorship-resistant products, and some developers are simply fascinated with the technology and its capabilities.”

Is DeFi purely theoretical or practical?

In 2017 blockchain took the world by storm and everyone bought into the narrative that digital currencies and their underlying blockchain technology could revolutionize the entire world.

Fast forward to 2019 and the majority of cryptocurrencies are still nearly 95% away from their 2017 all time highs. Blockchain technology is still making impressive strides in many sectors but the hype and excitement seems to have evaporated.

Many CEOs and corporate executives have said blockchain is great but its use cases are limited, and the technology is nearly a replication of the current permissioned network infrastructure in place.

This is not the case with DeFi and there are an array of daily use cases. Cryptocurrencies have already proven to be incredibly useful in Latin American countries like Venezuela, Argentina, and Mexico.

Take for example, the EMOGI Network, which already provides everyday solutions to citizens dealing with crippling hyperinflation, capital controls, economic instability and political chaos.

The network is designed to make it easy for users to send money from the U.S. to various countries in Latin America and the Emogi.Network network currently supports more than 6 million monthly active users across the Berminal and Bermi DApps. The platforms also encourage user engagement by offering the native (LOL) token as a reward.

DeFi could be the future of banking

It’s safe to say that all of North and South America would benefit from the financial freedom and transparent investment opportunities offered by DeFi platforms.

North American users will find lending, borrowing, and acquiring interest bearing savings account much easier. South Americans will be able to secure their wealth by converting their savings to a range of stablecoins and users can hedge against fiat instability and capital controls by investing in digital assets like Bitcoin.

The Defi movement is growing and as the sector gains more attention from the mainstream media it’s likely that masses of people will migrate to this new banking system.