Virtual World Developer MindArk Granted Real World Banking License
18 March 2009
Original press release[edit]
Virtual World Developer MindArk Granted Real World Banking License
(Gothenburg, Sweden) – March 18, 2009 – The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) has granted a license to conduct banking activities to virtual universe developer MindArk PE AB's wholly owned subsidiary Mind Bank AB. The unique step of integrating MindArk's virtual universe Entropia Universe with the real world will allow Mind Bank AB to function as a central bank for all virtual worlds within the Entropia Universe.
MindArk CEO Jan Welter Timkrans comments, "This is an exciting and important development for the future of all virtual worlds being built, using the Entropia Platform. Together with our partner planet owner companies we will be in a position to offer real bank services to the inhabitants of our virtual universe." This will take the integration between real life and virtual life to a whole new level.
Mind Bank AB will be the first bank that fully incorporates real money transactions with activities in a virtual world. Millions of transactions can be processed by the bank for further transfer to MindArk and the virtual universe. Mind Bank will also offer selected bank services to customers on the conventional market.
About MindArk and Entropia Universe
Entropia Universe is an expanding entity of interoperable 3D virtual worlds based on the proprietary Entropia Platform. Each virtual world takes the form of a planet(s) within the virtual Entropia Universe.
The Entropia Platform contains full support for secure micro-transactions in real-time, rich media viewing, transactions with real and virtual items, MMOG entertainment and social interaction between global participants. Its virtual currency, the PED, has a fixed exchange rate of 10:1 with the US dollar.
The Entropia Platform has been developed for over 10 years at a cost of over $40m. Commercially launched in 2003, MindArk's Planet Calypso has been generating profit since 2004 and has served as a vehicle for fine tuning the platform's business model and functionality. It has today over 820,000 registered accounts from over 200 territories. User to user transactions within Entropia Universe exceeded USD $420m during 2008.
For more information, please visit www.mindark.com and www.entropiauniverse.com.
Contact
Christian Björkman
Director Special Projects
MindArk PE AB
Tel.: +46 31 607260
Email: mindbank@mindbank.com
Michael Terpin
Terpin Communications
Tel. +1 310‐980‐4676
Email: mindark@terpin.com
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