A reader points me to this story.

What we want to do is create an appropriate scale currency for our region that will then serve the needs of our region. We used to have a system in this country of local currencies everywhere, and then there was a national currency, too. So that’s what we’d like to see again: regional currencies that work for their region and then a national currency — why not? You need that too so that you can trade across the country, or even an international currency.

I see this as analogous to frequent-flyer miles. It is a pseudo-currency that is worth something in some contexts but otherwise is not very liquid and is close to useless. As with frequent-flyer miles, the idea is to encourage customer loyalty, in this case to local merchants. I would be surprised if it turns out to be important.