Time Banks

In economics, a time-based currency is an alternative currency where the unit of exchange is the person-hour.

Time-based currencies value everyone’s contributions equally. One hour equals one service credit. In these systems, one person volunteers to work for an hour for another person; thus, they are credited with one hour, which they can redeem for an hour of service from another volunteer.

Time banks
Edgar Cahn came up with Time Dollars as "a new currency to provide a solution to massive cuts in government spending on social welfare. If there was not going to be enough of the old money to fix all the problems facing our country and our society", Edgar reasoned, "why not make a new kind of money to pay people for what needs to be done? Time Dollars value everyone’s contributions equally. One hour equals one service credit." Cahn wrote two books, Our Brother’s Keeper and No More Throw-Away People.

The largest and most active Time Bank in the United States is the Portland Time Bank (PortlandTimeBank.org) in Maine, offering startup training and comprehensive offline/online time bank management software. In the United Kingdom the plans are called timebanking, time banks and hour banks. There are reported to be 75 plans running in the UK, with 30 operating in Greater London. They are promoted as a tool in community regeneration.

In Spain a new time bank community, Kroonos, combines the latest internet social networking tools with an Exchange Trading System. With an international perspective and users in Spanish-speaking countries it also enables non-local exchanges facilitated by on-line technology.