The Rise of Complementary Currencies and Corporafinance: E-commerce Driven Competition in the Financial Sector

This paper explores the potential of corporate monies (including electronic payment systems, non-banks and new forms of money), which we term corporafinance, supported by the capabilities of electronic commerce infrastructures that provides competition in the financial sector. The paper draws upon parallels from the industrial revolution, and the structures that emerged, as well as the evolution of money. The paper then explores complementary currencies and new structures that are emerging within the information revolution. In times of uncertainty within the financial markets complementary currencies and corporafinance may offer a stabilizing effect even with JIBC April 2010, Vol. 15, No.1 2 systemic collapse of the traditional banking sector, electronic monetary activity may still flourish.