A local exchange trading system (also local employment and trading system or local energy transfer system; abbreviated LETS) is a locally initiated, democratically organised, not-for-profit community enterprise that provides a community information service and records transactions of members exchanging goods and services by using locally created currency.
# Criteria
LETS are generally considered to have the following five fundamental criteria: * Cost of service: from the community for the community * Consent: there is no compulsion to trade * Disclosure: information about balances is available to all members * Equivalence to the national currency * No interest
Of these criteria, "equivalence" is the most controversial. According to a 1996 survey by LetsLink UK, only 13% of LETS networks actually practice equivalence, with most groups establishing alternate systems of valuation "in order to divorce themselves] entirely from the mainstream economy." - wikipedia 
Michael Linton has stated that such systems are "personal money" networks rather than LETS.
# See also * History * Operation * Benefits * Examples * See also * References * External links