Local Currencies Invade Europe

The Brixton Pound was launched in 2009 as a way to boost the local economy. The scheme started with four notes and 80 participating businesses but today it has become an electronic currency too and will be used to pay a portion of the salary of local council workers. The Brixton Pound is one among many other local currencies that populate the country. With the Totnes Pound in Devon, the Stroud Pound in Gloucestershire and the Lewes Pound in Essex, the UK is well served when it comes to alternative currencies.

The UK is not alone. The French city of Nantes recently expressed its interest is creating a local currency and joining l’Occitan, l’Abeille, l’Heol and others in the growing list of French local currencies. But the real champion in Europe is Germany with a staggering 13 local currencies spread across the country.

One of the most successful local schemes in Germany, and Europe, is the chiemgauer – a local currency which started as a school’s economics class. Nine years ago a teacher decided to create the chiemgauer as an innovative way for her teenage students to learn about finance. The scheme started in a few local shops and just over 130 users. Now the currency is accepted in more than 600 businesses across the region and has a €5.1m turnover in 2010. Its association with local co-operative banks and credit organisations as well as the partnership with a local bank that allows chiemgauers to be spent by a debit card can explain the success of the currency. Moreover the chiemgauer has the particularity of having a short life – it has to be spent in the three months it is acquired. It forces users to spend them on local businesses and not save it. A resident of a local small town spoke with The Guardian explaining what attracts locals to the peculiar currency. “You can use the chiemgauer in all sorts of shops – from the hairdresser’s to the baker’s. You just have to register in the scheme and go to a participating bank to change your euro into chiemgauer. It’s worth it to support the community.”

While the local currencies are not the result of the extreme crisis of Europe’s own currency, the Euro’s demise is making them increasingly popular.