One Infrastructure – Unlimited Use Cases

SITUATION: Smaller cities and rural regions increasingly compete for skilled workers and young residents. Young people are drawn to larger cities, where there are more jobs and things to do. As a result, many cities and regions lack young talent and young people and become overaged.

SOLUTION: With a welcome bonus for new residents, affected cities offer financial incentives to attract young people. Unlike a traditional cash payment, the incentive directly introduces new residents to local shops, restaurants, cultural venues and services.

EXAMPLE: “Come and live in Varese” (ITALY): The city of Varese pays anyone under the age of 40 who moves to Varese and has an active job contract with a local company EUR 2,000 per year for three years, a total of EUR 6,000.

EFFECTS: The program makes relocation more attractive while ensuring that public funding remains within the local economy. New residents discover local businesses from day one, and local employers gain an additional argument when recruiting skilled workers.

SITUATION: City centres and individual neighbourhoods can lose footfall due to online shopping, changing consumer behaviour, construction projects or the relocation of major retailers. Traditional marketing campaigns create attention – but not necessarily actual purchases.

SOLUTION: Cities can combine communication campaigns with targeted local spending incentives. Bonuses or subsidized credit can be restricted to a particular district, period or group of participating businesses.

EXAMPLE: After a lengthy construction project, a city launches a six-week campaign: Residents purchasing €50 in local credit receive an additional €10 funded by the municipality. The bonus can only be spent with businesses located in the affected city centre area.

EFFECTS: Public campaign budgets are converted directly into customer visits and measurable local spending. The incentive can generate additional purchases, attract people back into the area and support businesses precisely where assistance is needed.

SITUATION: Cities invest substantial amounts in sustainability, mobility and civic engagement programs. But changing everyday behaviour can be difficult when the benefits for individual residents remain abstract.

SOLUTION: Positive behaviour can be rewarded with local credit rather than cash. Cities decide which activities qualify and where the reward can subsequently be spent.

EXAMPLE: Residents earn local credit for activities such as using public transport, cycling to work, participating in clean-up initiatives or volunteering at community events. A participant completing a city mobility challenge receives €20 that can be spent with local businesses.

EFFECTS: One budget creates two effects: The city incentivizes the desired behaviour while simultaneously generating purchasing power for its local economy. The reward becomes visible, practical and immediately useful to residents.

SITUATION: Festivals, Christmas markets, cultural events and temporary city events often bring together dozens or hundreds of independent vendors. Organisers need a simple payment infrastructure that works temporarily and does not require every participant to set up their own complex system.

SOLUTION: The existing local payment network can be expanded into a temporary event payment system. Visitors use QR codes, cards or digital credit to pay participating vendors.

EXAMPLE: A city festival with 60 food, beverage and retail vendors uses the city’s payment system for the entire three-day event. Visitors can purchase event credit digitally or at physical sales points and spend it throughout the festival.

EFFECTS: Payments become easier to manage, cash handling is reduced and organisers gain transparency about transaction volumes. Most importantly, the city does not need to create a new isolated payment solution for every event: the same local infrastructure can be reused again and again.