Danyl Strype Tue 21 Aug 2012 11:48PM
Although this story relates to Green Dollars, it is potentially relevant to time credits too. One case study I heard about was a cafe which decided to accept the Local Currency (LC). The problem was, it struggled to find ways to spend them. In the end, the LC co-ordinator spent a lot of time trying to find people who would do things for the cafe for LC payments, and cracking the whip to make sure they turned up and did a good job.
One solution that occurred to me is that the cafe could allow people to pay in the LC, but only when the LC group has built up credit by supplying the cafe produce and services in LC. This would create an incentive for all LC members to give services to the cafe for LC payments as often as possible, to build up a credit which they can collectively benefit from. This is more fluid than a barter system (individuals get store credit they can use for giving the cafe produce or services), but protects both the cafe and the LC scheme from being gamed by people signing up just to get free stuff from local businesses, without any reciprocity.
Lyttelton TimeBank Wed 22 Aug 2012 10:36PM
Really like your comment Strypey. We are looking at developing a second LC in Lyttelton and have alot of enthusiasm for it and are working with the potential pitfalls, a major one of which you have outlined. Will take your idea back to the group. Thankyou
Danyl Strype Tue 4 Sep 2012 9:26AM
@Lisa
Emma and I discussed this again the other day. I think that once a local currency scheme becomes established, the membership becomes broad and deep, and the currency gains real use value, and real social value, members will think of it as "real money" and the normal disincentives for making too many frivolous purchases will kick in.
Taking this into account, I'd also strongly suggest that businesses do charge some proportion of NZ$ on each purchase, at least during the trial stages of a local currency. This stops new members with a shallow understanding of the scheme from making frivolous purchases just because of the novelty of getting something "for free"; purchases they wouldn't otherwise make. In practice this would be a bit like the NZ$ discounts locals get in some small towns, but with the business still getting a token of reciprocity.
Lyttelton TimeBank · Mon 13 Aug 2012 1:41AM
When I think about questions around Timebanking I ask myself what the conswquence of my view could be. I would not want to exclude people from Timebanking and the same goes for people in business. The question is "How do we include business in Timebanking?" Thus, the essence of what business is and what Timebanking is would have to be examined in order to find a way to weave these systems together in a supportive way.