Bernard Lietaer - The future of money

The real revolution of possibilities unleashed by the Information Age will start to be seen when different kinds of currency follow the same electronic path that the national currencies are now blazing.

The cybersphere is also the ideal new money frontier, the ideal space with ample opportunity for creativity around money to emerge. One example of such creativity was demonstrated in the UK by the Tesco Clubcard (see sidebar). But the blurring is even deeper than that. We already have airlines becoming retailers (e.g British Airways Air Miles becoming redeemable for Sainsbury's retail vouchers) or getting involved in phone services (e.g. the new Lufthansa Senator cards are used not only to buy air tickets and keep track of Frequentflyer miles, but also for paying phone bills, car hire and other traveller's services). We have phone companies getting involved in retail payment systems (e.g. France Telecom's 1.2 million mobile phones are used to charge payments for goods and services; in another application one can buy a soft drink by dialling up its automat from a mobile phone). The Irish telecom operator makes more money from investing the 'float' the unspent balances issued on phonecards than they do from actual phone calls. Cable TV becomes e-commerce networks (Canal Plus in France is providing this service now; and there will be 29 million set-top boxes operated by smart cards in Europe alone by 2003, ten times more than there will be shop terminals). Zambian smart cards already have programmes for ten different types of currencies. All new PCs produced in the year 2000 have smart-card slots, and new smart cards use the same Multos platform so that you can download by telephone on it whenever you need it, for instance a Paris metro or a Eurostar application, a local library lending programme, launderette payments, healthcare insurance data or what is needed to change it into a phone card in Italy. In short, mobile phones, cable TV, computers, smart cards, complementary currencies and traditional payment systems are starting to coverage and create a new money world in the process.