It was exactly a year ago that I wrote here on this blog about a study by the global consulting and research firm, TowerGroup who was urging financial institutions to consider reallocating funds from
existing marketing, advertising and R&D budgets to put themselves
on the forefront of the “emerging MMORPH/VSW market."
Months before that, Phillip Torrone of Make Magazine wrote a prescient article about the future of credit cards. In fact, he writes he pitched a major financial institution in 2001 on the opportunities around in-worlds spending and the "affinity groups" found in MMORPG. He concluded that it was just way too early for them to get it.
So, kudos to entrepreneurial innovator and first mover, FirstMeta who brings the MetaCard to market.
There is a FirstMeta ATM and there are plenty of merchants in Second Life who accept the credit card - which is tied to a RL credit card or debit card.
Despite my latest Twitter post that we never see "it" coming, some people are attuned to Black Swans and recognize that it is in the realm of the improbable where business innovation thrives. It almost always requires "looking sideways", however.
September 5, 2007
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