Where we're going
Our vision is a fairer, greener, stronger economy for Bristol, and after 9 years of running Bristol Pound, we’ve realised we can do more. We want to involve more people and create more impact.
So we’ve been developing Bristol Pay.
Today, if you make a payment using your card or your phone, a small percentage of the sale leaves our city in transaction charges. It might not sound like a big deal, but it’s been estimated that these charges total £60 million leaving Bristol per year!
With Bristol Pay, the idea is to keep as much of that money in Bristol as possible. Any profits we make would be reinvested in voluntary sector social and environmental projects in the city.
The idea is to kickstart something totally new – a way to value the actions that aren't reflected in our financial transactions. These might be trying to take shorter showers, or helping out neighbours more, or pledging to give up RoundUp in the garden, or replacing car miles with greener miles.
We are creating a sort of game, a bit like a Fitbit. But instead of just focusing on encouraging physical activity, we'll be helping people understand their social and environmental impact, and encouraging them to start new habits to improve those impacts. By building a sense of community around these activities, we'll be able to help normalise them, reducing the anxiety about trying something new.
We'll be focused on celebrating successes rather than pointing out failures. We want to move away from the finger pointing that seems to go along with so many environmental and social movements, encouraging people to experiment with change and feel good about each positive thing they try.
Read about the full vision for the future of Bristol Pay here.