The Rise and Fall of the Bristol Pound: An Exploration of the Learnings from Bristol’s Eponymous Currency

Abstract

Bristol Pound became one of the best-known, largest, and longest-running community currencies in Europe. Yet behind that apparent success story, there were many issues that undermined its ability to become financially viable without grant funding. The lack of financial viability limited the Bristol Pound’s potential to create significant impacts on the local economy. Despite this, Bristol Pound gained a global reputation and inspired many to try to replicate its achievements. We seek to answer the question: How and why was the Bristol Pound CIC changing into Bristol Pay CIC? We present a case study of the Bristol Pound, exploring its functionality and results, and drawing out the key learnings that needed to be addressed by Bristol Pay CIC, its proposed successor. That successor was primed for implementation, but full operational implementation ultimately was not realised due to a lack of funding. Our analysis looks at a Community Interest Company and the institutional environmental factors that affected its success as an early innovator in digital payments. We here outline the novel approaches to influencing economic perceptions and social norms that were to be the focus of Bristol Pay.