The WIR Bank, formerly the Swiss Economic Circle (GER:
Wirtschaftsring-Genossenschaft), or WIR, is an independent
complementary currency system in Switzerland that serves small and
medium-sized businesses. It exists only as a bookkeeping system,
with no scrip, to facilitate transactions.
WIR was founded in 1934 as a result of currency shortages after the
stock market crash of 1929. Both Zimmermann and Enz had been
influenced by German libertarian economist Silvio Gesell; however,
the WIR Bank renounced Gesell's "free money" theory in 1952,
opening the door to monetary interest.
Although WIR started with only 16 members, today it has grown to
include 62,000, among whom is traded approximately CHF 1.65 billion
annually (as of 2004). The available money supply (currency code
CHW) was 839 million equivalent Swiss francs (as of 2005).
