Sunday, December 5, 2010

Another Reason Why TVI Express is doomed: they bank without a license

Just the other day I read that an guy was able to sell his VIRTUAL night club... that's right, not a real one, but a VIRTUAL nightclub, in an online world called Entropia Universe, for grand total of $635,000 dollars (399,000 British Pounds) that's REAL money, not virtual worthless online money.

However, that's not the interesting part about Entropia Universe, but the fact that the devleoper, MinkArk, actually have a real banking license (MSNBC reports), so the users can "trade" their virtual currency for real $$$, and vice versa.

Recently two countries in Africa have taken action against TVI Express for "banking without a license": Namibia and Swaziland. Both of their "central banks" are investigating (in addition to a dozen countries around the world). Which brings up an interesting question: what exactly is banking?

Essentially, banking is holding something else's money.

If you buy something, you are TRADING money for some product or service.

If you are bartering, you are trading product/service for another product/service.

If you are working, you are trading service / labor for money. Or the "boss" is buying labor from you. 

If you "bank" with a business, they are holding your money (probably with promise to pay you back, with some interest for the use of your money). 

With TVI Express, you pay them $250 + fees, and your eWallet gets ZERO. When you cycle out of the traveler board (i.e. filled it with 14 people you or your downline recruited) you get $250 in your eWallet and a $250 eVoucher code you can sell to yet another recruit.

So you have "earned" that money, according to TVI Express, yet they are HOLDING IT for you, instead of just paying you.

They are banking without a license.

In TVI Express announcement, they confirmed a SEPARATE eWallet for "booking funds" (needed to book those trips they promised), which means even they don't consider their own eWallet to be real money. 

So you got paid, essentially, in fake money. 

Which means TVI Express is a scam. You don't get paid.

But that was obvious from the very beginning.

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