Complementary currency banks function like a traditional chartered bank offering checking accounts, sending and receiving money from others, etc. Traditional banks operate under a government license from either the federal government via the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), or a state’s bank regulatory agency, (list here). One of the unique features of a government licensed bank is that they can issue that country’s national currency (i.e, dollars, yen,  pounds , etc.)

The key difference with the SCF is that a complementary currency bank may issue any form of currency other than a national currency, and may do so without a charter or license from a government entity. Complementary currencies go by many names – the IRS refers to them as virtual currencies, others call them an alternative, local, community, regional, private, or people’s currency. And we all use them every day in the form of grocery coupons, airline mileage, entertainment books and buy-local campaigns.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has acknowledged in an article titled “Private Money in our Past, Present, and Future” that U.S. citizens may issue their own money and throughout U.S. history have frequently done so.