Real
banks enter the world of virtual reality | | |
| Learning
while earning
Wells Fargo had a store on Second Life but left to
build their own virtual world called Stagecoach
Island so they could have more flexibility in managing its expansion. It's
an education and entertainment site where visitors can paraglide, visit a dance
club and participate in other activities, but they can also make money by answering
financial literacy questions.
"We wanted to make sure that we made an entertaining
experience," says Gina Fung, vice president of experiential marketing, which
uses nontraditional methods to connect with customers. "What we're learning
is that they frequently go to the ATM and then go to the learning lounge and take
the quizzes. We had to increase the content because they were telling us the questions
were too easy." Fung says Stagecoach Island has 70 millionaires,
although they can't exchange their virtual money for real-world dollars. While
Wells Fargo is one of the first American banks to get its toes wet in the virtual
world, they're pretty tight-lipped about future plans. Rodney
Nelsestuen, senior analyst for financial strategies and information technology
investments at TowerGroup, says conducting business in a virtual world is something
banks need to understand. "Even if this isn't, ultimately, going to be the
channel (that most customers use for banking), it says something about how people
want to live their lives and interact with others. Financial institutions probably
ought to take that to heart. It says something about what it means to develop
a relationship with a customer. "This isn't something
we think is going to go away," Nelsestuen continues. "Does this become
the universal access to financial services that my grandmother would use? No.
But we don't think you can ignore it. We think you need to be looking at it and
taking part in it. Obviously, banks are thinking the same thing." New
banks in the virtual world
MindArk is taking it a step further and
auctioning five virtual banking licenses that will allow the owners to exclusively
operate banks within Entropia Universe. MindArk claims Entropia is the only virtual
universe on the Internet with a currency that has a fixed exchange rate with the
U.S. dollar. MindArk's Simmonds says two Swedish banks, an
American bank and a few other financial institutions and individuals have shown
interest in opening banks inside Entropia. "What we're
offering in the first stage of owning the bank is that they'll be able to loan
money on a virtual item and this item will be taken as collateral security. This
doesn't really come into the sphere of the real world. But the real-world banks
that are interested in coming into Entropia Universe are looking at offering far
more services. The basic service we're offering is just the starting pad to launch
whatever service the bank and its regulators and their license allow them to offer." Real-world
regulations
That brings up the aspect of regulation in a virtual
world. Dan Hunter is an adjunct professor of legal studies at the University of
Pennsylvania's Wharton School who specializes in cyberspace and Internet law.
While some people assume virtual banks will be regulated by their real-world regulators,
Hunter says it's a very gray area and visitors to virtual worlds should be careful. | 
