xymnovel Chapter 166 Commodity Vouchers
Chapter 166 Commodity Vouchers
Chapter 166 Commodity Vouchers (Bonus chapter for the generous donation from the generous contributor!)
Chen Wenbin had long considered issuing banknotes directly from Bank of America.
However, his negotiations with the Bank of England in London were unsuccessful.
The Bank of England's appetite was too great. Not only did it want a 35% stake, but it also required a minimum reserve of £150,000 to be deposited in the Bank of England's vault in London. Furthermore, it demanded that someone be assigned to monitor the amount of banknotes issued. Only after these requirements were met would they recognize that Bank of America's banknotes would enjoy the same treatment as Bank of England's banknotes in the Americas.
To be honest, this condition is quite tempting. Although there are many restrictions, it is almost equivalent to granting the Bank of America the power to issue British pound banknotes!
Finance in this era is indeed much freer than in the 21st century. After all, it is based on the gold standard. British pound banknotes are essentially gold exchange certificates. Private banks with sufficient strength can also issue them, but it is difficult to obtain recognition from the Bank of England and gain legal payment status and endorsement.
The Bank of England was willing to offer these terms mostly out of respect for King George III, coupled with lobbying from Benjamin Mendes da Costa and several Jewish financiers.
But no matter what, this is the right to issue British pound banknotes in the Americas!
Even Chen Wenbin himself almost agreed!
Unfortunately, he couldn't keep most of his liquid funds in the Bank of England, and several Grenville Whig MPs in the British Parliament objected after hearing about it, so the deal fell through.
However, Chen Wenbin ultimately gave the Bank of England 10% of Bank of America's shares in exchange for approximately 0.3% of the Bank of England's shares, and also deposited £20,000 in the Bank of England as the first margin for the two banks to conduct transatlantic remittances: this was to prepare for the future.
As John Smith said, Bank of America can indeed issue its own banknotes now, but without the backing and recognition of the Bank of England, these banknotes can only circulate within its sphere of influence in the early stages, and it also has to build bank branches and pay staff salaries and security and transportation costs.
This is also why Chen Wenbin wanted to develop commodity-based currency, since supply and marketing cooperatives still had the opportunity to make a profit, while bank branches were likely to lose money in the early stages.
After thinking for a long time, he nodded to John Smith and said, "————It is indeed necessary to issue banknotes, so let's make a plan!"
We have paper mills and ink mixing craftsmen to finalize the design of the banknotes as soon as possible.
You should also list the needs of the department store and the grain store, and have David and Marvin select suitable people from within the company to clarify the organizational structure first.
Personnel recruitment, material procurement, warehousing and transportation, armed security, store site selection and construction, internal standardized management, product pricing, disposal of slow-moving goods, after-sales service—all of these are discussed in a meeting to produce a detailed plan.
Report back to me within a week!
"yes!"
John Smith nodded, stood up, and asked, "Sir, what about the supply vouchers—"
Chen Wenbin thought for a moment and said, "Let's find a factory to do a pilot project and set up a Robin Department Store to see how well the workers accept it. They will always spend their wages, so they are a stable consumer group. If we don't make money from this, other merchants will. It's better to form an internal cycle."
I'll have Brooke take the lead. You send a few key bank employees to see what kind of discounts and offers can be offered that will both recover funds and prevent losses.
John Smith thought for a moment and said, "Then we'll just have to let the customers outside come in to shop too."
When we pay wages, we let workers choose between cash in pounds sterling or vouchers. Those who choose the latter receive an extra one to two percent, while the prices of goods in department stores remain the same. This is equivalent to a wage increase in disguise, which workers can accept.
After receiving the vouchers, the stores deposited them directly into their Bank of America accounts. The gold and silver remained in the Bank of America's vaults, incurring only interest payments. However, this increased the loan amounts available to various companies, thus also increasing interest income.
Chen Wenbin nodded and said, "Okay! Let's conduct a pilot program first and compare the effects of bank vouchers and material vouchers."
The role of banks is to leverage the money multiplier effect to attract deposits, lend to businesses, amplify financial leverage, and make money circulate, quickly transforming it into tangible productivity.
As long as his requirements are met, it doesn't matter whether bank vouchers or material vouchers are used.
The first Wednesday of every month is payday for all Robin Company subsidiaries and factories. So on the afternoon of March 6th, when people got off work, there were long lines of workers waiting to collect their wages at the finance offices of various factories in the dock industrial area.
Because the factory's accountant and lawyer would calculate everyone's salary and bonuses in advance and then put the coins in paper bags, the payroll was usually paid very quickly. Everyone could sign their names, count their money, and leave.
But this afternoon, when Blake Wyatt finished showering in the empty factory bathhouse and came to the corridor outside the finance office on the second floor of the Robin Steel Plant office building, he found a line of more than a dozen people ahead of him, and there was noise coming from the finance office—based on his experience over the past few months, everyone should have already collected their money and left by now.
He patted the last burly acquaintance on the shoulder and asked, puzzled, "Hey! Luca, what's going on today? Why is everyone still queuing here?"
Luca turned around and saw it was him, complaining, "Mr. Wyatt, Sean from the coking plant was worried the coupons wouldn't work, so he opted for coins. But he changed his mind shortly after leaving and came back to Mr. Cole to exchange them for coupons again. Mr. Cole disagreed, so they started arguing—I just saw someone go to Mr. Stanton; it should be resolved soon!"
Blake nodded slightly. As a senior technician at the steel mill, he was well aware that the company had announced five days ago that it would pilot a wage payment model at the steel mill that allowed employees to choose between material vouchers and hard currency.
Choosing the commodity voucher would give him an extra 2% of his salary, which, based on his current wage, would amount to an extra 40 pence—not a small sum. Therefore, he has decided to choose the voucher.
Anyway, Robin Department Store opened three days ago in a warehouse not far from his house. Although the environment inside is not very good, the goods are indeed cheaper. And since it is your property, there is no way there could be a problem.
Their salaries are all paid by you. Whether it's pounds sterling coins or commodity vouchers, they can be deposited into Bank of America and can be exchanged for cash at any time. Besides, there's a 2% discount. Only a fool wouldn't choose commodity vouchers.
Sure enough, they didn't have to wait long. Stanton, the supervisor of the coking workshop at the steel plant, arrived with a gloomy face. Under his intimidating presence, Sean dared not cause any more trouble and obediently followed him out of the finance office with his head down.
A few minutes later, it was finally Blake Wyatt's turn. He signed the pay sheet as Mr. Cole had asked, picked up the paper bag containing the gift certificates, and began counting them.
The gift certificates here still smell of ink. The largest denomination is one pound, and there are eight in total. The front of the gift certificate has the seal and signature of the Bank of America, and the back depicts a clipper ship with its sails unfurled.
Next came nine shillings, with the main building of a manor on the back. He recognized it immediately as Your Excellency's home, as he had visited it a month ago and even met Your Excellency in the living room.
Finally, there were four pennies, with a picture of a pair of crossed Robin's muskets on the back.
"That's right, it's £8, 9 shillings, and 4 pence!" He nodded to Mr. Cole, carefully pocketed the money, and left.
That's right, he thinks this is money!
With someone he can trust acting as guarantor, this kind of paper money that can buy things, whatever it's called, is of course money!