Bartercard Private LTD. is an operator of a
barter trading exchange. Bartercard enables businesses to exchange goods and services without the use of cash or cash equivalents, or without a direct swap. Bartercard is a trading platform which enables businesses to exchange goods and services with others. These transactions are recorded electronically, with ‘Trade Dollars’ substituted for New Zealand currency. Each
trade dollar
Trade dollars are silver coins minted as trade coins by various countries to facilitate trade with China and the Orient. They all approximated in weight and fineness to the Spanish dollar, which had set the standard for a de facto common currency ...
is equivalent to one
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal A ...
/
American dollar
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
.
Founding
Bartercard was founded on the Gold Coast, Australia in 1991 by Wayne Sharpe, Brian Hall and Andrew Federowsky. Bartercard has a presence in eight countries (
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
,
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...
and
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
) where 75 offices service approximately 34,000 cardholders worldwide who collectively barter-trade over $600m each year. In 2007, Bartercard Australia was sold in a
management buyout
A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena o ...
.
Description
Members earn Bartercard Trade Dollars / Pounds for the goods and services they sell and this value is recorded electronically in the member’s account database, or goes towards repaying the credit that the member may have used.
For calculating taxation liability, the Australian
Taxation
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...
Office (ATO) treats one Bartercard
Trade Dollar
Trade dollars are silver coins minted as trade coins by various countries to facilitate trade with China and the Orient. They all approximated in weight and fineness to the Spanish dollar, which had set the standard for a de facto common currency ...
the same way that it treats one Australian Dollar.
Evaluation
Bartercard is not based on barter but on local currency. The trade is limited
and mainly serves to attract new customers, increase sales, and offer networking opportunities
[Dawn Birch and Peter W.Liesch (July 1998) Moneyless Business Exchange: Practitioners’ Attitudes to Business-to-Business Barter in Australia. Industrial Marketing Management, Volume 27, Issue 4, Pages 329-340]
References
{{Reflist
External links
Bartercard
Service companies of Australia
Payment systems
1991 establishments in Australia