Www.toulouse-cg.com. Econet to launch prepaid home ‘power station’ Strive Masiyiwa (image credit: World Economic Forum) Econet Solar, a subsidiary of African mobile phone operator Econet Wireless, has launched a prepaid solar-powered home power station that it believes could have a meaningful impact on people’s lives on a continent where an estimated 70% of people not have access to a reliable supply of electricity.
The company will begin trialling the first-generation of a new product that provides lighting and the ability to charge cellphones using the same systems and in the same way airtime is purchased for mobile phones. Econet says this will remove the requirement for consumers to incur high up-front costs, which prevent hundreds of millions of people in Africa from benefiting from solar-powered systems in their homes.
The “Home Power Station” uses a solar panel to charge a battery, which then provides power for four lights and a cellphone charger, the company says. Intranet France. La bataille de l’innovation sur le marché des paiements - Revue Banque#id803512-ref#id803512-ref#id803512-ref. Le parcours client À quoi ressemblera dans un avenir proche le parcours client lors d’une transaction de paiement ?
À en croire les initiatives lancées et les réflexions en cours des différents acteurs sur le marché des paiements, la façon de régler un bien ou un service ne ressemblera plus en rien au parcours de paiement actuel. Alors que les indicateurs suivis par les émetteurs de cartes de paiement tournent autour du taux de pénétration de cartes, du taux d’équipement par porteur ou encore la notion de « top of the wallet », le consommateur de demain risque fort de n’avoir aucune carte dans son portefeuille… voire de ne plus avoir de portefeuille du tout. Virtual Currencies Gain in Popularity.
By Olga Kharif Getty Images Make way, Zambian kwacha.
Payment Observer. What is Bitcoin? - We Use Coins. Digital currencies: Bits and bob. Virtual currency: Bits and bob. The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin. In November 1, 2008, a man named Satoshi Nakamoto posted a research paper to an obscure cryptography listserv describing his design for a new digital currency that he called bitcoin.
None of the list’s veterans had heard of him, and what little information could be gleaned was murky and contradictory. In an online profile, he said he lived in Japan. His email address was from a free German service. Google searches for his name turned up no relevant information; it was clearly a pseudonym. But while Nakamoto himself may have been a puzzle, his creation cracked a problem that had stumped cryptographers for decades. One of the core challenges of designing a digital currency involves something called the double-spending problem.
Bitcoin did away with the third party by publicly distributing the ledger, what Nakamoto called the “block chain.” When Nakamoto’s paper came out in 2008, trust in the ability of governments and banks to manage the economy and the money supply was at its nadir. Facebook Credits' $600 million virtual economy - Apr. 28. By Laurie Segall, staff reporterApril 28, 2011: 5:12 AM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- With more than 500 million active users, the population of Facebook exceeds that of many countries.
And like any empire, Facebook has its own currency -- one that got a big boost with this week's launch of Facebook Deals. Facebook's new daily deals offering, available in five cities now with plans to expand to more, puts it into direct competition with Groupon and its army of imitators. Facebook members will get deal offers right in their news feed -- and if one catches their eye, they can pay for it with a credit card, PayPal or Facebook Credits. Earn Facebook Credits for Dining and Shopping Offline. Exclusive: Facebook seeks exec to build Hollywood, media ties. Qu'est-ce qu'une monnaie virtuelle ? - Monnaies virtuelles. Stockées sur des supports numériques, tel un ordinateur, un serveur ou un réseau, les monnaies virtuelles sont des valeurs monétaires dématérialisées.
The Future of Money: It’s Flexible, Frictionless and (Almost) Free. Cash in the clouds—neither paper nor plastic.Illustration: Aegir Hallmundur; Benjamin Franklin: Corbis A simple typo gave Michael Ivey the idea for his company.
One day in the fall of 2008, Ivey’s wife, using her pink RAZR phone, sent him a note via Twitter. But instead of typing the letter d at the beginning of the tweet — which would have sent the note as a direct message, a private note just for Ivey — she hit p. It could have been an embarrassing snafu, but instead it sparked a brainstorm. That’s how you should pay people, Ivey publicly replied. From Credit Card to PayPal: 3 Ways to Move Money. Credit cards are expensive and inefficient. iTunes and PayPal streamline the transaction process.
Credit Cards The swipe is just the beginning. The actual transfer of money from a buyer to a vendor can take days and cost up to 3.5 percent of the sale price. Digital Ecosystem Community. Innovation Bancaire, 2011 une année mouvementée, qu’attendre de 2012 ? Les monnaies locales commencent à fleurir un peu partout. Qu’est ce qu’une Accorderie ? Une Accorderie vise à lutter contre la pauvreté et l’exclusion en renforçant les solidarités entre des personnes d’âges, de classes sociales, de nationalités et de sexes différents.
Une Accorderie développe, par l’échange de services et la coopération, les conditions d’une amélioration réelle, et au quotidien, de la qualité de vie de tous ses membres, les Accordeurs. What Are Complementary Currencies?
A complementary currency is a medium of exchange that functions alongside a national currency, to fulfill a need that the national currency seemingly does not. According to the "International Journal of Community Currency Research," community and complementary currency systems have four main purposes: Complementary currencies are not legal tender, only government-issued money has this status in many countries, including the United States, England and the eurozone countries. Legal tender is the only currency that must be accepted to satisfy a debt, in countries with legal tender laws. However, the parties to a transaction can mutually agree to do business with another payment form. Complementary currencies are thus legal, as long as they meet certain requirements. Community Currency Magazine. We give Your Community a Place to Thrive. TimeBanks USA. Alternative Currencies Grow in Popularity. Most of us take for granted that those rectangular green slips of paper we keep in our wallets are inviolable: the physical embodiment of value.
But alternative forms of money have a long history and appear to be growing in popularity. It's not merely barter or primitive means of exchange like seashells or beads. Beneath the financial radar, in hip U.S. towns or South African townships, in shops, markets and even banks, people throughout the world are exchanging goods and services via thousands of currency types that look nothing like official tender. Alternative means of trade often surface during tough economic times. "When money gets dried up and there are still needs to be met in society, people come up with creative ways to meet those needs," says Peter North, a senior lecturer in geography at the University of Liverpool and the author of two books on the subject.
Alternative (or "complementary") currencies range from quaint to robust, simple to high tech. Le blog de Jean-Michel Cornu. Reinventing Money Thomas H. Greco Jr. Prof. Dr. Margrit Kennedy. Economic Crisis Currency Strategies and Solutions. Connecting people to assets. MonNetA.org - Komplementäre Währungen - Initiativen zur Einführung stabiler Geldsysteme.
Social Trade Organisation. Monnaies communautaires en… Afrique. Monnaies en Débat - Currencies in Debate - Monedas en Debate - Moedas em Debate. Complementary Currency Resource Center - ccDatabase. Une mise en perspective des monnaies sociales. Jérôme BLANC: Une réflexion populaire et citoyenne se met en place autour des questions de monnaie et d'une finance plus solidaire, déconnectée des réseaux bancaires.
Auteur : Jérôme BLANC, Maître de conférences en sciences économiques, Laboratoire Triangle, Université Lumière Lyon 2. Collective Intelligence Research Institute. The new economics foundation. Banco Palmas. Monnaies en Débat - Currencies in Debate - Monedas en Debate - Moedas em Debate. Innovation monétaire. Welcome to the Metacurrency Project. Eh bien, troquez maintenant.