We grow up believing that money in a bank account is ours, sitting safely behind a digital number on a screen. But here’s the truth: when you deposit money into a bank, you’re not storing “your” money at all – you’re lending it to the bank. What you see in your account is essentially an IOU (“I owe you”), a promise that the bank will pay you back when you ask.
While you wait, the bank uses your deposit for its own business. A small fraction is held as reserves at the central bank, but the vast majority is recycled into loans and credit creation. In return for taking on this risk, depositors are traditionally compensated with interest. The rate is supposed to reflect both the risk that borrowers might not repay and the loss of purchasing power from inflation.
From a client’s perspective, this interest is the price of trust – the reassurance that taking on the bank’s risk is worth it. Yet today, that balance has broken. Savings accounts often offer little or no interest compared to historical norms. The risk carried by depositors is no longer matched by adequate returns – leaving savers exposed while banks continue to benefit.
This is the old pattern of money: trust in intermediaries like banks, limited control, and hidden mechanics. urble is designed to change this – not by dismissing everything that works in traditional finance, but by re-building it with blockchain technology, digital assets, smart contracts, and a focus on user-centric design to provide a better service with more benefits.
In this article, we’ll dive into what makes urble different from a bank, why it represents a modern way to save and manage money, and how it actually works.
The Old Way – Banks and IOUs
When you hold a balance in your bank account, you don’t own the cash. Instead:
- You’re a lender: you lend your money to the bank.
- The bank is the borrower: it owes you an IOU, represented as your account balance.
- The contract is invisible: you don’t set the rules – the bank does.
This creates daily realities that we rarely question:
- Transfers depend on network cut-off times and can be delayed.
- Payments travel through chains of intermediaries who all take a cut.
- Savings accounts feel static, disconnected from life.
- Joint accounts often create headaches when partners go their separate ways.
Since the mid-20th century, banks have been the gatekeepers of money, shaping how generations store, move, and access it. Blockchain has changed that – enabling open systems that unlock entirely new financial experiences.
The Problem With Old Patterns
The bank-IOU system has advantages – stability, familiarity, and institutional trust – but it also comes with structural problems that weigh on individuals and society.
- Uncertainty: Transfers are routed through concealed networks. As a sender, you often do not know when or if the money has arrived without asking the recipient.
- Isolation: A savings account is private and hidden. If you save for your (god-)child, they cannot see or feel the support until years later. The act of saving becomes detached from emotion.
- Hassle: Closing or splitting accounts requires paperwork, intermediaries, and often legal processes. A shared savings plan can become a liability during a breakup.
- Fees: Payments involve multiple middlemen. Merchants routinely sacrifice 1–3% of their revenue to card networks and processors.
- Trust dependency: Ultimately, you rely on the bank’s ability and willingness to honour its IOU. Accounts can be frozen, limits imposed, or deposits used for purposes you never explicitly consented to.
These limitations are not small inconveniences – they shape how we experience money, often in ways that feel disconnected, frustrating, or unfair.
The Modern Way – Blockchain and Smart Contracts
Blockchain technology flips the script. Instead of trusting intermediaries, you interact directly with your money.
- Self-custody: You hold the keys. You own the assets. There is no IOU – it is your money, directly. Think of it like a house: when you rent, the landlord can change the locks or set the rules. When you own, the keys are yours, and no one can take them away. With urble, you own your “financial house” – full control, no landlord.
- Smart contracts: Agreements that execute automatically. Want to save with a partner? Define upfront what happens in case of separation, and the rules are enforced by code, not a clerk.
- Transparency: Every transaction is recorded on a public ledger. You always know when money has moved and where it sits.
- Borderless: Payments are real-time, global, and nearly cost-free compared to card networks or other Payment Service Providers (Western Union).
This shift is not only technical – it is cultural. Money becomes closer to how people actually live: collaborative, mobile, and transparent.
Why Blockchain Alone Is Not Enough
Despite these advantages, blockchain tools have historically fallen short for everyday users.
- Wallets feel intimidating, with jargon and cryptographic details.
- Interfaces often trigger anxiety – one mistake, and you could lose funds.
- The experience is isolating, technical, and sometimes fear-inducing rather than empowering.
The promise of blockchain – empowerment and self-sovereignty – has too often been overshadowed by poor user experience.
This is the gap urble is designed to fill.
How urble Brings It All Together
urble takes the core strengths of blockchain – self-custody, transparency, automation – and delivers them in a form people can actually use and enjoy. It is designed to feel as simple and familiar as a bank app, but with the ownership and empowerment of blockchain.
- Simplicity: No complicated wallet set-ups. Just a clear, friendly interface.
- Security: You keep control at all times. urble does not take deposits, and there are no IOUs – your assets remain yours.
- Social layer: Money becomes collaborative. You can create shared savings goals, invite family, and give financial support in a way that feels connected and meaningful.
- Automation: Smart contracts handle the routines. Set a habit once, and let it run – without reminders or manual transfers.
The result is an app that bridges the old and new: as familiar as your banking app, but powered by the ownership logic of blockchain.
Why urble Is Not a Bank
At first glance, urble may feel like a “modern bank.” But that comparison misses the point.
- urble does not take deposits.
- urble does not issue IOUs.
- urble does not control your funds.
Instead, urble is a facilitator – a tool that helps you interact with money you already own. You do not trust urble with your deposits; you use urble to exercise control over your assets.
This difference is subtle but fundamental. With a bank, you rely on an institution’s promise. With urble, you rely on your own ownership.
In summary, urble is:
- Safe and familiar like a bank app, but built on blockchain logic.
- Personalized and joyful, instead of rigid and isolating.
- Transparent and empowering, instead of unclear and trust-dependent.
This is not just about saving money. It is about re-imagining money as something organic and human: collaborative, transparent, and always under your control.
Want to know more about urble?
👉 Join the waitlist today and be one of the first to experience money you actually own—made simple, social, and secure.
