Read more: 鈥�The future of money in a webbed-up world鈥�
While Macon Money鈥榮 bond sharing brings people together, other forms of social currency replicate banks鈥� desire to make a profit.
Peer-to-peer loan sites give borrowers access to money at a lower interest rate than banks are charging, while offering the people providing the loans a chance to get a greater return than a standard savings account. Everybody wins 鈥� apart from the bankers.
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The first peer-to-peer loan site, called Zopa, launched in the UK in 2005 and then in the US and Italy. Its members have now made over 拢130 million in loans. Its system is resilient against defaulters because the loans are spread across many borrowers 鈥� the default rate is under 1 per cent.
Thanks to the rise of social networking sites, however, a new breed of social loan site is now trying to steal Zopa鈥檚 crown.
Yes-secure, launched in the UK last year, offers a similar service to Zopa but with a social networking element 鈥� it allows lenders to offer more money to borrowers if they share a social connection. Then there is Funding Circle, a website which offers business-to-business loans in the UK that also launched last year. It lets lenders who share common interests join 鈥渃ircles鈥� that let them recommend businesses for others to lend money to.
Of course, a social network is only as strong as its members, and none of these sites can compare to the internet鈥檚 social giant. Facebook isn鈥檛 in the lending game yet, but it does have its own virtual currency, Facebook Credits, which can be used to buy a variety of virtual items and even some real-world goods.
So how will we keep track in a world where everyone is spending and lending both real and virtual currencies? Dave Birch, director of Consult Hyperion in Guildford, UK, which specialises in electronic transactions, says cellphone apps like the recently launched Google Wallet (see 鈥�Commuters will be the bellwether for Google Wallet鈥�) will be key. 鈥淚t sounds a bit crazy that people would use these odd currencies, but I don鈥檛 think it is,鈥� he says.
An app could let you manage any number of currencies and trade them with your friends 鈥� or even do it for you. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure you will bother thinking about individual currencies. Just let the phone sort it out,鈥� Birch says.
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