It didn't surprise me then, when I heard that Bristol was getting its own currency, the Bristol Pound. Following in the footsteps of transition town Totnes in Devon, Bristol is adopting it's own currency to encourage money to stay in the city and support independent traders.
My personal views on the Bristol Pound are slightly mixed. I think that anything that encourages people to spend their money in independent, local businesses is positive but I think that on the whole, the people of Bristol are already doing this, on quite a large scale. Do we really need a separate currency in order to continue to do so?
I do like the incentive on an extra 5% on all cash deposits in sterling however this is hampered somewhat by the 3% conversion fee if you want to change your Bristol Pounds back. Also if you receive payments via their innovative SMS method, you will have to pay a 2% fee and 1% on all on-line transactions.
With this in mind, I worry that the Bristol Pound end up being a slightly more expensive and slightly less convenient way of doing business.
I can see that as something fun, for maybe the kids to get involved with, this could work really well but for everyday businesses I'm not so sure. Watch this space!
