Real
banks enter the world of virtual reality | | |
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"One of the unknowns in this space is the application of real-world regulatory systems to these worlds," says Hunter. "We haven't seen much of this yet, but over time there is every likelihood that states and countries will get involved.
"Individuals need to be cautious. The capitalizations
of and regulatory environment for these entities are extremely uncertain.
Each of the worlds have different understandings of what a 'bank'
might involve, and this is generally going to be under the control
of the world developer or owner," he explains. "For example,
the nature of financial institutions in Entropia Universe is very
different from Second Life and that's different from There. It's
probably fair to say that users will come to understand the nature
of the financial institutions in general, but there certainly are
some users who are not in a position to assess the risk attendant
in some virtual investments."
Hackers
heaven?
TowerGroup's Nelsestuen likens virtual worlds to emerging
markets and says the biggest risk is that you don't know what your risk is. "From
a consumer perspective you'll find people who will say, 'Wait a minute. I'm in
here talking to all of these avatars, how do I know transactions are secure?'
That will be an issue for the banks. Are they going to be able to cordon off and
develop a secure lock-down area that won't be compromised? Think about the people
who go into these virtual worlds; some of them are very tech savvy and might be
very good at breaking down security walls. "The other
concern is those consumers who wouldn't ask any questions. They see their bank
logo and decide to transfer money. They wouldn't think about it. They're trusting
-- it's their bank, it must be OK." Nelsestuen says legitimate
banks in virtual worlds will be governed by real-world rules and regulators, but
until all of that is solidly in place, visitors should probably think of the worst-case
scenario and realize they could lose everything. Other
virtual companies thrive
Banks, perhaps because of their regulatory
burden and the confidentiality needed just for conversations with customers, seem
to be approaching virtual worlds one very careful step at a time. But other businesses
are jumping onboard. Dell has set up Dell Island on Second Life, where it sells
virtual computers to players for Linden dollars -- the Second Life currency --
and real computers for U.S. dollars. Toyota, General Motors and IBM are just a
few of the other companies populating the virtual world. This
may seem a bit out there to many people at this point in time, but in the near
future they may be just as comfortable with it as they are with online banking,
which raised more than a few eyebrows not very long ago. | 
