mucr:mutual_credit

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mucr:mutual_credit [2026/03/12 21:02] – Dave Darbymucr:mutual_credit [2026/08/11 15:33] (current) – [What can I do?] Matthew Slater
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-# Mutual credit +This topic is part of [[gt:economy|Economy & finance]]. 
 +====== Mutual credit ======
  
 ![](https://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/wp-content/uploads/collaborative-credit.jpg) ![](https://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/wp-content/uploads/collaborative-credit.jpg)
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 > "It only requires that we each take control of our own credit and give it to those individuals and businesses that merit it and withhold it from those that do not." - Thomas Greco > "It only requires that we each take control of our own credit and give it to those individuals and businesses that merit it and withhold it from those that do not." - Thomas Greco
  
- +===== What is mutual credit? =====
- +
-## What is mutual credit?+
  
 It’s a means of trading, of exchange, that doesn’t require conventional money, doesn’t incur interest and doesn’t involve banks. It’s based on networks of businesses, traders and individuals who get to know and trust each other in a geographical area or business sector. Each member gets an account. They go into a directory so that suppliers and customers can find each other. When a purchase is made, the buyer’s account goes into debit, and the seller’s account goes into the same amount of credit. But these are just numbers in an account - information, not money that can be hoarded. There’s a limit to how far you can go into credit or debit – and that’s basically it. It’s a means of trading, of exchange, that doesn’t require conventional money, doesn’t incur interest and doesn’t involve banks. It’s based on networks of businesses, traders and individuals who get to know and trust each other in a geographical area or business sector. Each member gets an account. They go into a directory so that suppliers and customers can find each other. When a purchase is made, the buyer’s account goes into debit, and the seller’s account goes into the same amount of credit. But these are just numbers in an account - information, not money that can be hoarded. There’s a limit to how far you can go into credit or debit – and that’s basically it.
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 </WRAP> </WRAP>
  
-### History+==== History ====
  
-Mutual credit has a fine pedigree. Pre-money, villagers everywhere traded with each other in credit – you help fix my roof, I give you meat when I kill an animal; you help me harvest my crop, I help you bring in firewood – and so on. The accounting was done informally, in people’s heads, and no money changed hands.+It can be argued that all gift economies are actually mutual credit, because everyone is giving and receiving and a balance is struck, even without formal accounting. However mutual credit requires a unit of account and a ledger before it becomes money-like. 
 + 
 +The idea is very useful and translatable into different cultures and realms. Anthropologists have found scattered examples of mutual credit like ledgers in many places. We find instances of it throughout the financial system - wherever there are assets changing hands in both directions between multiple parties, and immediate settlement isn't needed, for example in interbank [clearing](/crcl/credit_clearing).
  
 In the 19th century, William Greene, Lysander Spooner and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon championed [mutual credit and mutual banking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutualism_\(economic_theory\)#Mutual_credit) in the US. In the 19th century, William Greene, Lysander Spooner and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon championed [mutual credit and mutual banking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutualism_\(economic_theory\)#Mutual_credit) in the US.
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 <figure> <figure>
  
-![sardex](https://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/wp-content/uploads/sardex.jpg)+{{url>https://www.youtube.com/embed/OmPaR3bB5NY 560,315}}
  
 <caption> <caption>
-_A street ad for the [Sardex](https://www.sardex.net/?lang=en) mutual credit system in Sardinia._+_Interview with Thomas Greco: the future of money is mutual credit (not Bitcoin)._
  
 </caption> </caption>
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 [LETS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_exchange_trading_system) (and [time banks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-based_currency)) are community-based, non-commercial exchanges in which local people exchange favours and hours of work. However, LETS schemes were usually comprised of individuals rather than businesses, and it's hard for individuals to obtain credits unless the company they work for is in a scheme and pays some wages via credits. Mutual credit networks can involve individuals, but for real economic impact, they have to be based on networks of businesses. [LETS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_exchange_trading_system) (and [time banks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-based_currency)) are community-based, non-commercial exchanges in which local people exchange favours and hours of work. However, LETS schemes were usually comprised of individuals rather than businesses, and it's hard for individuals to obtain credits unless the company they work for is in a scheme and pays some wages via credits. Mutual credit networks can involve individuals, but for real economic impact, they have to be based on networks of businesses.
- 
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 <figure> <figure>
  
-{{url>https://www.youtube.com/embed/OmPaR3bB5NY 560,315}}+![sardex](https://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/wp-content/uploads/sardex.jpg)
  
 <caption> <caption>
-_Interview with Thomas Greco: the future of money is mutual credit (not Bitcoin)._+_A street ad for the [Sardex](https://www.sardex.net/?lang=en) mutual credit system in Sardinia._
  
 </caption> </caption>
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-The software now exists to link all mutual credit groups together into a global trading network. It's called the [Credit Commons](http://creditcommons.org/), and we [interview the founder, Matthew Slater, here](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/posts/building-the-credit-commons-with-mutual-credit-clubs-matthew-slater).+The [[Credit Commons]] is a protocol to enable local currencies, or credits to be traded in other groups. It uses mutual credit because instead of seeing the currency as a commodity with a price, the currency is a credit obligation intended t be repaid with the issuers' goods and services. We [interview the designer, Matthew Slater, here](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/posts/building-the-credit-commons-with-mutual-credit-clubs-matthew-slater).
  
 +===== What are the benefits of mutual credit? =====
  
- +==== For businesses ====
-## What are the benefits of mutual credit? +
- +
-### For businesses+
  
 - Mutual credit provides a parallel purchasing / accounting system that means businesses don't have to rely entirely on pounds, dollars etc. This insures them against cashflow problems and wider economic downturns. - Mutual credit provides a parallel purchasing / accounting system that means businesses don't have to rely entirely on pounds, dollars etc. This insures them against cashflow problems and wider economic downturns.
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 - Allows businesses to sell surplus stock / spare capacity. - Allows businesses to sell surplus stock / spare capacity.
-### For communities+==== For communities ====
  
 - Unlike conventional money, mutual credit is not an exchange medium that can be sucked out of communities and accumulated in tax havens. - Unlike conventional money, mutual credit is not an exchange medium that can be sucked out of communities and accumulated in tax havens.
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 - A local mutual credit network of committed traders can help start new small businesses, as gaps in the local economy are identified. - A local mutual credit network of committed traders can help start new small businesses, as gaps in the local economy are identified.
- 
- 
- 
-### Wider benefits 
- 
-- Conventional money is scarce; mutual credit is not – it’s available to any network members who want to trade with each other. To paraphrase Alan Watts: to say that it’s not possible to trade because of a lack of money is like saying that it’s not possible to build a house because of a lack of centimetres. 
- 
-- This means that mutual credit enables trade in areas of extreme poverty. 
- 
-- Mutual credit is a means of exchange, but not a store of value – it can’t be accumulated and hoarded by billionaires. 
- 
-- Because there’s no interest to be paid, and no impetus to hoard, there is no ‘growth imperative’ that causes overconsumption and damages nature. 
- 
-- Provides a refreshing alternative to debt-issued, bank-controlled money. 
- 
-- In a well-run mutual credit system, inflation can’t happen. 
- 
-- Mutual credit has no divisive ideology attached. It’s just a practical tool that has multiple benefits, whatever your political position. 
- 
-- It doesn’t require any mining – of precious metals or of digital coins. 
  
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 <figure> <figure>
  
-![ces-australia](https://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/wp-content/uploads/ces-australia.jpg)+{{url>https://www.youtube.com/embed/o4WzvBZbzGU 560,315}}
  
 <caption> <caption>
-_There's a lively mutual credit scene in Australia, where they have developed their own [Australian Community Exchange System](https://www.communityexchange.net.au/) network._+_Interview with Mercedes Bidart of Quipu Markets, who are building mutual credit network in poor neighbourhoods of cities in Colombia, and eventually further afield in Latin America._
  
 </caption> </caption>
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 +==== Wider benefits ====
  
 +- Conventional money is scarce; mutual credit is not – it’s available to any network members who want to trade with each other. To paraphrase Alan Watts: to say that it’s not possible to trade because of a lack of money is like saying that it’s not possible to build a house because of a lack of centimetres.
  
-## What can I do?+- This means that mutual credit enables trade in areas of extreme poverty.
  
-The Covid pandemic provided the stimulus to bring together a group of specialists who have formed [Mutual Credit Services (MCS)](https://mutualcredit.services/) with the aim of setting up mutual credit groups (or ‘clubs’). They realised that lockdowns will mean that many small businesses may close because of lack of money in their communities, and so the ability to trade without money may be exactly the safety net that can help keep them alive. They're approaching existing business networks, social enterprise networks and local authorities.+- Mutual credit is a means of exchange, but not a store of value – it can’t be accumulated and hoarded by billionaires.
  
-Clubs can be in a geographical area - so there could be a club in your town - or they can be clubs of interest, for example in a particular industry, with members in different parts of the country, or even in different countries. The most important thing is that these clubs contain businesses that already trade with each other, or that could switch suppliers and get new customers so that could happen. Active trading loops or circles need to exist, so that popular businesses don’t get stuck at their credit limit with no-one to buy from, or that other businesses end up at their debit limit with no-one to sell to. Trade needs to flow in loops around the community.+- Because there’s no interest to be paid, and no impetus to hoard, there is no ‘growth imperative’ that causes overconsumption and damages nature.
  
-<WRAP center centeralign> +- Provides a refreshing alternative to debt-issued, bank-controlled money.
-<figure>+
  
-{{url>https://www.youtube.com/embed/o4WzvBZbzGU 560,315}}+- In a well-run mutual credit system, inflation can’t happen.
  
-<caption> +- Mutual credit has no divisive ideology attached. It’s just a practical tool that has multiple benefits, whatever your political position.
-_Interview with Mercedes Bidart of Quipu Markets, who are building mutual credit network in poor neighbourhoods of cities in Colombia, and eventually further afield in Latin America._+
  
-</caption>+===== What can I do? =====
  
-</figure> +Like any financial institution, its not something you can practice on your own, and monetary activists have found it surprisingly difficult to seed and nurture mutual credit systems where they live. The reason is perhaps because they are doing it the wrong way around. An accounting system does not create the possibility for people to exchange, it merely formalises exchange which is already going on, or not going on. Failed projects can raise consciousness and build community, but they can also put people off the topic entirely, especially people who put more in than they got out.
-</WRAP>+
  
-MCS can help business networks set up and run a club quickly and cheaply, but with something new - federatability - i.e. the ability for businesses in a particular club to trade seamlessly with businesses in any other club. As this network of clubs grows, existing mutual credit schemes will be able to join, and it can develop towards a global [Credit Commons](http://www.creditcommons.org/).+What you can do on a personal level is demonetise your private exchanges, if not also your professional ones. That means instead of asking for money payment, ask what your client can actually do for you or give you. Treat is like a game or a challenge, leave debts open, uncollected, or overpaid and requiring a counter payment! Where bilateral exchange isn't possible, try to set up loops where A is a client of B is a client C is a client of A. If you can get to ten or 15 people constantly doing this, maybe it will be time to formalise the system!
  
-Two other developments:+Otherwise, look for initiatives you like and volunteer them in the ways that they need. There might be a LETS or a time bank in your area - ask around because the maps are all out of date. There are also non-local projects with wider ambitions which might need you. Here are some of our favourites.
  
-1. Mutual credit schemes can develop from 'credit clearing' networks, where debt is cleared / cancelled out between a group of trading businesses. [More on credit clearing here](/crcl/credit_clearing).+*[Humans United in Mutual Aid Networks](https://mutualaidnetwork.org/)(USA) imagine local economies of care and exchange, networked together. 
  
-3. Savings and investments: instead of equity or debt, businesses can raise finance by offering vouchers for future production, at a discount. So, say for example a community energy company wanted to build a wind turbine, they would sell future energy vouchers at, say, 10-20% discount. The same can be done for a restaurant, office block, haulage company or any kind of business. Local businesses can obtain funding without going into debt with banks, without having to pay interest, and without giving part of their company away. Local people can save surplus cash and feel secure, knowing that they can obtain energy, housing, food or any of the essentials of life in future, without worrying about inflation (because a kilowatt-hour is always a kilowatt-hour etc.) or bank failures. The vouchers can be either redeemed or sold. [More here](/ucos/Use-credit_obligations).+*[Community Exchange Systems](https://www.community-exchange.org) provides a software platform for groups across the world, but racing against time to modernise its software 
 + 
 +*[Mutual Credit Services](https://mutualcredit.services) is building a special type of mutual credit system for business networks that helps members with cashflow by cancelling out incoming invoices with outgoing ones leaving a much smaller amount to manage. They are working with Liverpool local council to implement this city-wide. - [Contact us](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/about/contact) too if you think you might like to volunteer with MCS.
  
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-MCS are talking with business networks in Lancashire, Yorkshire, London, Devon and in other parts of the world, from India to Scandinavia. You can get involved: +Finally everyone can learn more about credit clearing and mutual credit: we recommend Thomas Greco’s book, [_the End of Money and the Future of Civilisation;_](/mucr/mutual_credit) or you can [watch some of our interviews](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNNdLYx-MxhZrUyo54Ox2a8IKWUrUydDf) with people working in / interested in mutual credit.
- +
-- First, it might be an idea to learn more about credit clearing and mutual credit: we recommend Thomas Greco’s book, [_the End of Money and the Future of Civilisation;_](/mucr/mutual_credit) or you can [watch some of our interviews](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNNdLYx-MxhZrUyo54Ox2a8IKWUrUydDf) with people working in / interested in mutual credit.+
  
 - Contact us if you're part of a business network - you can talk with MCS with a view to setting up a local trade / mutual credit club. This also applies if you're part of / associated with a local authority, social enterprise or any other group that might want to host a network. - Contact us if you're part of a business network - you can talk with MCS with a view to setting up a local trade / mutual credit club. This also applies if you're part of / associated with a local authority, social enterprise or any other group that might want to host a network.
  
-- A small transaction fee could provide an income for a club convener - obviously this income will rise, the bigger and more active the club becomes.+===== Forum =====
  
-- [Contact us](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/about/contact) too if you think you might like to volunteer for MCS, or the [Credit Commons Society](https://creditcommonssociety.org/), whose aim will be to raise awareness of and to ensure good governance of mutual credit networks worldwide.+This topic belongs to the section [[gt:economy|Economy & finance]]. You can ask questions or add information on the corresponding [Forum section](https://forum.growingthecommons.org/t/economy).
  
-- If you know someone who might be interested, or if you want to help spread the word, please share this information. We’ll keep this page updated as things develop. +===== Further resources =====
- +
- +
-## Further resources+
  
 - [International Clearing Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Clearing_Union) - mutual credit between nations - proposed (unsuccessfully) by John Maynard Keynes at the Bretton Woods meeting in 1944 - [International Clearing Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Clearing_Union) - mutual credit between nations - proposed (unsuccessfully) by John Maynard Keynes at the Bretton Woods meeting in 1944
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-## Related topics+===== Related topics =====
  
-- [[limo:money|Low-impact money]]+- [Collaborative finance](cofi:collaborative_finance)
 - [[crcl:Credit clearing]] - [[crcl:Credit clearing]]
 - [[crco:Credit commons]] - [[crco:Credit commons]]
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-## Specialist curators of this topic +===== Specialist curators of this topic =====
  
 +  * [[user:matslats|Matthew Slater]] of [[https://creditcommons.org|CreditCommons.org]]
 +  * [[user:mrauchs|Michel Rauchs]]
 +  * [[user:dil|Dil Green]] of [[https://www.mutualcredit.services/|Mutual Credit Services]]
  
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