Community-based Banking (8) Portable IT

Record-keepers will initially record transactions on a slate or in a notebook. As their business grows, they might transfer their records onto a laptop or iPad. Eventually, a networked system that links up all the record-keepers might be built by one of the Thousands and leased to other record-keepers.

Money is really portable information technology. A coin is a token recording the obligation of the community to the person holding it. A banknote is a paper record of the same obligation. Notes and coins are a record of the obligation of the community to the person holding them. When that person receives goods or services from someone in the community, the obligation is cancelled, so the notes and coins are handed over. They are handed over to the person who supplied the goods of the service, as a record the obligation of the community to provide goods and services to them.

When a purchase is made using EFTPOS, the obligation is recorded using electronic information technology. Efficient electronic information technology is better for recording this type of information than notes and coins, provided it is accessible wherever people want to buy and sell.