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granting temporary credit where traditional banks refuse. Roy Netzer explained this
with an example:
In winter, a nursery was in trouble with creditors demanding money within 90 days.
Luckily, they had an account manager with strong business acumen. We then approved a
$10,000 line of trade dollars credit, went to the creditors and told them that the company was
in crisis, saying ‘Hey guys, either you let this debt go and lose anyway, or you take the
money in trade dollars.’ Seven of the ten we approached said yes. Most of the creditors
became members, some just temporarily, but most joined up eventually. The nursery’s
business picked up in spring and by March was 50 per cent better off than before the crisis. If
it wasn’t for us they wouldn’t be in operation.
Potential for Rejuvenation of Small Towns
When I spoke to him in 2000, former Bartercard New Zealand Managing Director
Ian Jones described with enthusiasm the potential of Bartercard for the rejuvenation
of small towns and rural areas. ‘Take the town of Waihi. They may have a whole
heap of businesses slowly haemorrhaging and going broke. We have businesses in
Auckland who could buy from them in trade dollars and we could broker this.’
Jones used the example of a signwriter in Auckland who might need work
boots. He could either buy them for NZ$100 in Takapuna for cash, or phone a Waihi
shop and pay, say, T$100 for their boots. He could then do T$100 worth of
signwriting costing T$40. That way he would save himself T$60. Both the signwriter
and the Waihi shop would win, and Waihi’s economy would get a little boost.
Multiply this a few times and the town could revive and pick up business from
areas it would usually never deal with. Using another example, Jones said that a
farmer needing a pair of boots could happily trade them for a couple of sheep,
which he has plenty of. ‘We could facilitate these deals and auction off the sheep
when we have enough. We have a system for tracking every transaction,’ Jones said.
Relationships with Government
Former Bartercard New Zealand Managing Director Ian Jones also said in 2000,
‘Councils have a responsibility to encourage business to their regions, and if council
could underwrite 50 per cent of the risk we would do the rest.’ He said councils
should accept Bartercard trade dollars in payment for rates, and was
also critical of the IRD’s inflexibility about accepting trade dollars for tax. Instead of
bankrupting businesses that can’t pay their taxes, he said, the IRD should be open to