INNOVATIVE IDEAS - New "Money-Back" System Opens Doors For "Alternative Currency"

Used mass transport tickets acquire a new value through an innovative idea, the "Money Back" system, being transformed into a new "alternative currency" for goods and services in stores participating in the scheme. The idea, which has a European patent, belongs to Giorgos Vergakis and is being implemented in Greece by the Sales Promotion Center, a company providing integrated and specialised sales promotion and marketing services.

The Money Back system, under the slogan "Do not throw it away it has a value", allows the public using urban transport (metro, bus, tram, Proastiakos train, electric railway) as well as travelers using ferryboats, airplanes, and trains in Greece and abroad to get discounts from participating stores simply by displaying their used tickets. The discount is calculated based on a cashing scale that depends on the total value of the goods purchased. For example, the 5 to 1 cashing scale means that for every 5 euros of purchases consumers will have 1 euro discount if they have the amount of 1 euro in the form of used tickets.

In a press conference in Athens earlier this week Giorgos Vergakis explained that the "Money Back" system has social dimensions and a positive impact on the environment, traffic, ecology, quality of life and participation, urging people to use mass transport means while, at the same time, boosting the local market. The "Money Back" initiative was first launched four years ago in Herakleion on the island of Crete as a pilot project but soon spread across Greece. (AMNA)