Vouchers, credits and direct payments
Most public finance is undertaken in national currencies. Public procurement and wages are paid in the relevant currency, and taxes are similarly raised in that form. But there have been a growing number of experiments with forms of payments which include tokens, or incentives in kind, or which consolidate citizen’s public sector rights and obligations in personal public accounts, transferring public means of payment to them.
Direct payments and personal service budgets
Direct payments and personal service budgets, such as the UK’s direct payments scheme, and the extension of personal budgets to people with disabilities. Personal budgets are...
Read morePersonal public accounts
Personal public accounts for credits and debits such as the Danish Nemkonto Easy Account. Here, Danish citizens and companies nominate one of their bank accounts as...
Read morePublic smart cards
Public smart cards have been in use for over twenty years, and allow services to be reconfigured, often prompting innovative ways of thinking about services. Cards...
Read moreLoyalty and incentive schemes
Loyalty and incentive schemes can support and promote healthy and sustainable living. Examples include the joint Young Foundation/Birmingham East and North Primary Care Trust ‘Healthy Incentives’...
Read morePayment to citizens in the form of tokens
Payment to citizens in the form of tokens, such as the French ticket restaurants (a luncheon voucher scheme) in which the vouchers can now also be...
Read moreQuasi currencies
Quasi Currencies and environmental permits, such as Packaging Recovery Notes and emissions trading certificates but also including targets, rewards and penalties....
Read moreLocal public currencies
Local public currencies such as the Wörgl in Austria during the 1930s, or more recently, the Patacón in Argentina. The key feature of these currencies is...
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