"Ever since the inception of Bartercard into the Australian economy in 1991, the way companies across the country conduct their day-to-day business has been revolutionised. Bartercard’s world-leading innovative trade exchange system enables over 75,000 trading members in 9 countries to benefit from the cashless economy of barter."5 minutes ago I was watching World Business Germany that featured a story on BarterCard and they mentioned a car company that exchanged inventory for advertising space. That is very interesting actually. Will this be a popular medium of exchange going forward and be a currency hedge in itself? Traders could value goods/services on an exchange and factor in currency fluctuations, just like the S&P/US Dollar. It would be interesting to see traders price publicly traded excess inventories for businesses. Bringing inventory management to the next level. I'm wondering how hedge funds could get involved.
How the Bartercard transaction works (website):
- A Bartercard transaction is similar to a credit/debit card transaction. Members receive a plastic transaction card and an interest-free line of credit. Monthly statements detail member transactions and Trade Dollar balance.
- Trade Dollars are credited to the member’s Bartercard account upon the sale of goods and services through the exchange.
- Members use their Bartercard transaction card to spend their credit balance, or draw on their interest-free line of credit, on goods and services from any other Bartercard member. Trading within the Bartercard system includes a number of transaction methods, such as electronic transactions via the internet, EFTPOS swipe card facilities, telephone, e-Commerce or by traditional transaction voucher.
Here is the Bartercard presentation video link. Also read this TIME article: Bartering: Have Hotel, Need Haircut (Time Magazine - Nov 2009). Here is information on publicly traded ITEX.
The Barter Network is a barter broker. And check out Barter News Weekly.
