The NuSpaarpas loyalty system for sustainable behaviour was a project that took place in the Netherlands between 2000 and 2002, in which people could collect ‘bonus points’ for activities benefiting the environment: sorting waste, shopping with 100 local shops or by buying environmentally-friendly or Fair Trade products. The project was a partnership between the Rotterdam […]

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Euro, Dollar, Pound and Yen are under fire from some critics: these currencies have lost their connection with the real economy and take no account of the scarcity of real resources or the distinctive features of particular regions. The necessity of growth and the maximization of profit are pre-programmed by the system of credit creation. […]

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LETS Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS) may be regarded as a professionalization and further development of neighborly help. On the one hand, they allow participants to meet each other’s needs without using money. On the other hand, alongside the material benefits, idealistic and social elements also play a large role. The aim of exchange rings, […]

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Exchange rings give participants the opportunity to offer and exchange their goods and services with each other without using national currencies as a medium of exchange. Exchanges within the network are accounted for with units of time, points, ‘talents’ or even using whatever internal unit the members have agreed upon, which could also be national […]

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Parallel currencies are currencies that are issued by the state as an official second currency alongside legal tender currency and can also be designated as legal tender. A parallel currency can be a stable, hard currency (e.g., a foreign currency) that is used alongside a weak national currency, to combat hyperinflation in the national currency […]

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All loyalty points systems such as Air Miles, Nectar Points etc. aim to persuade customers to remain loyal to a particular company. Customers of a particular company collect points, which they can exchange for discounts with the issuing company or its partners. Points can be in electronic or paper voucher form. These so-called private corporate […]

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The invented German word ‘Regiogeld’ is an abbreviation for the concept of ‘regional money’, a local medium of exchange similar to the Euro. Its main difference to the Euro is it is only valid in one region, which is usually designated by the name of the local initiative: Chiemgauer, Havelblüte, Elbtaler, Vorarlberger Talente. In the […]

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Virtual currencies only exist in online ‘worlds’ and games. They have no physical form and cannot be used outside of these spaces. Some online gaming worlds like “Second Life” issue currencies. Players buy this currency with national currency. They can only use this currency to use, exchange or buy virtual objects for use in the […]

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States have had varying degrees of influence in different times and places over how banks create money. In some periods, money creation and the denomination of coins was left completely to the commercial banks. In such times when individual banks had the power to issue their own banknotes one speaks of “Free Banking”. The market […]

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