The traditional financial system was hit hard by the crisis. Banks are searching for answers and firing their staff, whilst new institutions are emerging. Informal banking and local currency systems are presented as potentially complementary systems, or even as alternatives. What exactly are these community currencies offering that banks are not? How have these...

The financial system has drastically changed over the past ten years. The financial crisis has triggered the growth of new financial technology (such as smartphone banking), but also opened up perspectives for all kinds of new initiatives for lending capital as well as trade and exchange systems. This debate session will discuss these new developments,...

  The crisis of the banking sector triggered all sorts of new mechanisms for financing human action and investment. Together with new technological opportunities we see the emergence of new forms of financing. Especially in emerging economies interesting solutions are found. Bitcoins emerged as a pure digital form of financing, other initiatives act as intermediaries and bypass the...