As a Discord Community Manager for multiple projects. I support the projects I work on by using Discord Nitro to boost the servers because I believe in them and the work we do for the community.

The Nitro Monthly Subscription costs me $16.97 per month that is roughly ₹1350.82

ICICIBank flags my transaction as "suspicious transaction(s)" and immediately blocks it every single month for a simple International payment of $16.97

God forbid, what if there was an emergency or urgent need for cash, or I had to transfer money to my parents?

The previous message states that I can unblock my card through iMobile Pay app. The iMobile interface is so bad that after I select my Account Number a pop up message says it's invalid, though that's my only ICICI account.

Tried calling the Customer Service Executives, but the number is invalid. When I arrived to the closest branch there was a big waiting queue and only one support staff member and the others were on leave for Ganesh Nimarjanam.

Finally the support staff executive unblocked my card from her end. And said the reason it was blocked was because I didn’t attend the call that I received from ICICI as it was a confirmation call for International transactions.

I don’t attend calls from unknown numbers as most of them are just scams and Banks selling you their "low-interest" Credit Card or just random calls from sales executives. Totally fair for you (reader) to assume that it was my fault as I didn’t attend the call.

But why should I? Why should I attend random calls from unknown numbers on a friday afternoon for a ₹1350.82 transaction which I authorized as I am the only one with access to the account and my iMobile is protected by Face ID.

My card was finally unblocked and a message pops up saying "dehotlisted", they could’ve just mentioned "unblocked"

[Messages from other banks]

• Here is a message from @dbsbank, why should there be a "scheduled upgrade"?

• And I had similar experience with @cibc as well.

But I'm grateful to have gone through this entire process of unblocking my card (doesn’t mean I would want to do it again) as it shows me how important Cryptocurrency is. Been in the Web3 space for a while, but when you go through things like these, you’ll understand the importance.

The whole process just brings me another step closer to becoming a Degen and making my 'Web3 heart' even stronger. Now think about the 31.5% of the world's population that lives without bank accounts (World Bank, 2018).

No matter what tribe you are a part of [ $BTC, $ETH, $SOL etc. ], it's about making the world a better place and pushing humanity forward.

This has nothing to do with ICICI or Indian banks in general; in fact, UPI is among the finest Fintech innovations in recent times.

This is for you to think as a Crypto Native.

We Are Gonna Make It.