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MindArk awarded real-world banking license for its Entropia Universe massively multiplayer online virtual universe

Thursday 19 March 2009 13:50 CET | News

Swedish software company MindArk, which develops the Entropia Universe massively multiplayer online virtual universe, has been awarded a banking license from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority and announced plans to open its first bank branch in the course of 2009.

For its Entropia fictional universe, MindArk has implemented a micropayment economic model, in which players acquire in-game currency dubbed “PED” (Project Entropia Dollars) with real currency. PED are earned in the game through hunting, mining, trading or other activities and can be redeemed back into real-world funds at a fixed exchange rate of 10 PED = USD 1.

The banking license allows MindArk to provide prospective customers with deposit insurance of up to USD 60,000 per account provided by the Swedish government. Also, MindArk announced plans to include standard bank services into its bank’s offering, such as interest-bearing accounts, direct deposit of paychecks, bill payment and lending. In 2008, Entropia Universe had 850,000 player accounts and an economic activity worth around USD 420 million.
 


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Payments & Commerce