During the Great Depression Swiss businesses were severely affected by a slowdown in sales, a shortage of cash and difficulty in obtaining credit. 

Banks contributed to the problem by reducing, or eliminating, credit lines even to customers they had long relationships with. This was not caused by a change in the clients’ credit rating or ability to repay loans, but by the banks’ new policies and their reluctance to part with the limited cash available. This resulted in a drastic reduction of working capital for many businesses.

Many of those businesses had valuable assets such as their signatures, equipment, inventory, real property, etc., however, those assets were simply not acceptable by banks as security for loans

From the adversity came the idea of forming a cooperative where qualified participants could, collectively, create a Mutual Credit System, and pool some of the assets in a financial vehicle similar to a Trust* as backing for a Trade Credit which could be used, in combination with Swiss Francs, to make buying and selling transactions between cooperative members

The monetization of the assets created an immediate increase in the working capital for the co-op members, which resulted in an increase in sales, cash flow and profits.

In a typical transaction, the ratio of cash vs. the Trade Credit ranges between 50% and 70%. The most important benefits derived from membership are:

          1. An advantage over non-member competitors when offering goods and/or services by requiring less cash.

          2. Substantial cash savings when using the private money to acquire goods and/or services from vendors.

The WIR Cooperative began in 1934 with 16 members and, today, has 62,000 in several business sectors, generating 6 billion dollars in annual volume. The interest it charges for the use of credit is in the range of 2% annually.   

The WIR Cooperative provides services to the following sectors:
 

• Hospitality
• Manufacturing
• Construction
• Media / Advertising
• Professional Services
• Real Estate
• Retail

*The ATC Trust vehicle is conceptually similar to a REIT, the main difference being that REITs accept assets and issue a security (stock) which becomes publicly traded. The ATC Trust also accepts assets, however, instead of stock it issues a Trade Credit which is used to transact deals involving property and other assets.