New electronic currency introduced in Bratislava

Bratislava as of Monday has become the second European city after Bristol in the UK where people can use a local electronic currency to make payments. "I'm sure that Bratislavans will take a liking to it, too, and we'll introduce it to other towns gradually," said Živica NGO, which has introduced this initiative, director Juraj Hipš. E-živec is an electronic alternative to the paper-based Bratislava živec local currency that has been in use since April 2014. The Bratislava živec is accepted by 40 companies in Bratislava, while the electronic živec has been introduced by the first four of these at the moment. For every e- živec used, the Local Currency Community Fund will receive 10 cents, which will be allocated for financing the revitalisation of the space in front of Stará tržnica (the Old Market Building) in Bratislava.