When Makis Gounaris, a financial consultant based in Athens, decided to hire Spartan Security Ltd. to protect his apartment in September, he was told to choose from three payment options: cash, credit, or barter.

Gounaris paid his entire bill in “TradePoints” using Greek barter network TradeNow.

“It was a good deal,” said Gounaris, who was general secretary for public property at the Greek Ministry of Finance between 2012 and 2015. “I had already gathered quite a few TradePoints by bartering my old glasses, a digital piano and an electric razor.”

Such deals are increasingly common in Greece. As the country has moved into the latest chapter of its economic redevelopment, a barter economy that grew in popularity amid last summer’s strict capital controls has matured into what proponents say could be framework for a cashless economy.

Makis Gounaris, right, hired Spartan Security using “TradePoints.” Ellie Ismailidou/MarketWatch

The controls have gradually lifted over the past few months, returning some normalcy to Greek economic life. And so while Greeks used barter networks to trade goods and services at times when few had ready cash at the peak of the controls, they use them now with resources scarce and the country battling a bailout impasse that requires further austerity.

It is the perfect time for barter to evolve from a form of crisis therapy to a sustainable alternative for the economy, advocates and enthusiasts say. But for that to happen, they argue, they must organize the more than 200 networks currently operating in Greece into a functioning system of cashless commerce, attracting business participants to build scale and reach.

A first step in that direction took place in October after a committee of barter supporters based in Athens put out a call for a nationwide meeting of collaborative-economy networks. Around 2,000 representatives showed up for what became a “national solidarity and shared-economy conference.”

Representatives from Greek barter and solidarity networks met last year in Athens. Ellie Ismailidou/MarketWatch

They will meet again in May in a bid to organize groups by industry — health, food, energy and technology — and lay the foundation of a broad cashless economic system.

“It is no longer about saving a few euros toward next month’s rent,” said Christina Papadopoulou, a founding member of the 3,500-member Athens Time Bank, in which professionals exchange services using an hour of their time as the currency.

A shift to a cashless society

Barter systems often emerge from monetary societies after unforeseen events make money scarce, historians say: After Rome fell, for example Europeans used barter as a substitute for Roman currency.

Variants exist around the world, from Qatar to New York state, and the Athens Time Bank is modeled after one in the San Francisco Bay Area. In Greece, its growth sprang out of necessity in the early days of the country’s financial crisis, spiking in popularity last summer when daily ATM withdrawals were capped at 60 euros, or about $65.

Over 200 groups have been created since the financial crisis began in 2010, according to antallaktiki.gr, a Greek barter group aggregator. They include local-trade cooperatives; grass-roots solidarity groups, such as a hospital in Athens that serves more than 100 people a day on donated supplies and time; online-barter auctions that resemble eBay; and time banks.

Some networks practice pure barter, or a direct exchange of goods. Most have adopted some type of unit that approximates the value of goods or services. The networks operate across the country, reaching into some of its more remote islands, and span all areas of commerce.

Tradenow is for electronic devices, books and CDs; time banks boast doctors, electricians, yoga teachers and psychotherapists, among others; and farmers use the agricultural union of Lamia to trade produce and agricultural machinery.

Barter networks have proven essential as Greece continues to battle through an economic crisis that is far from over. The country averted an exit from the eurozone in July by passing sweeping austerity measures in exchange for bailout funding, but its economy hasn't recovered.

One in five Greeks remains unemployed, while Greek banks are incurring billions of euros in losses, cutting back on credit for business and households. Meanwhile, 52% of all small businesses are threatened with shutdown — more than during last summer’s capital controls — according to a recent survey by the Greek Chamber of Commerce.

There are around 250 bartering and cooperative-economy networks operating across Greece, including remote islands. Antallaktiki.gr

In the background, a humanitarian crisis looms over the country: More than 50,000 refugees are stranded in Greece after fleeing the Syrian conflict.

Stumbling blocks to wider adoption

While the number of trading networks and participants in Greece has jumped in the past year, they still need more size and activity to become a large-scale driver of economic activity, according to economists and barter experts.

“Barter networks have not yet reached the large-scale participation that would present a viable alternative for the economy,” said Gounaris in a February interview.

A few bartering services have managed to attract Greeks through appeals to solidarity. Alexandros Bellos, who recently used TradeNow to exchange an electric vacuum cleaner for a pound of homemade chocolate truffles, said he appreciated the opportunity to connect with others at a time when many are struggling.

Alexandros Bellos exchanges his vacuum cleaner for chocolate truffles baked by Stefania Tekou. Ellie Ismailidou/MarketWatch

“It’s not like I can’t afford to buy truffles,” Bellos said. “It is about making use of what I no longer need while making a new friend.”

But to become essential, barter networks must offer more than fun, according to Rachel Botsman, a researcher and writer who has taught a course on the collaborative economy at Oxford University.

“When systems that involve bartering, sharing and swapping emerge, they can be perceived as what people need to do because of lack of choice,” Botsman said. “They must shift from being seen as things people use out of necessity to things people use for broader reasons — such as convenience, efficiency and quality.”

She pointed to companies like Airbnb and Uber, which began as cheap alternatives to hotels and taxis but eventually revolutionized consumer perception of those industries.

Some network organizers have sought to jump-start activity on their platforms, bidding to attract more business participation in much the same fashion that eBay EBAY, -0.06% and Amazon AMZN, -1.78% managed to attract thousands of businesses to sell their products on their platform.

That has led to both growth and challenges. “Private corporations love the idea — but when it comes to the actual implementation, they are reluctant to let go of their euros,” said Tradenow founder Yiannis Deligiannis.

Tradenow founder, Yiannis Deligiannis, says getting businesses to join a barter marketplace is key to scaling it. Tradenow

To make it easier for companies to join, Tradenow, which features 29,000 registered members, introduced a hybrid system — in which businesses can offer their product or service priced in TradePoints, euros or a combination — in early 2015. About 400 companies use Tradenow, according to Deligiannis.

One is Spartan Security, which joined in 2014, as Greece had lost 25% of its gross domestic product after four years of economic crisis. Spartan’s hope, according to marketing manager Matina Karabatsou, was to “tap new demographics and grow its client base to counter the negative effects of the financial crisis.”

Tradenow has helped Spartan grow its client base by about 2%, according to Karabatsou. Meanwhile, the company uses TradePoints to buy cleaning services and online advertisements.

But the hybrid system has also led to complications for Tradenow: The company has honored a one-to-one exchange rate between points and euros, meaning that one point is theoretically supposed to “buy” products and services sold on the platform for one euro.

That could hurt the company, as the unofficial point-to-euro exchange rate has fallen by about 75% since it launched in late 2012. That, combined with laws that require companies to pay a 23% value-added tax, or VAT, on all revenue in euros, means companies may lose money by using points.

That makes barter a tough sell for some businesses as the economic crisis has continued to ravage business investment and loans. While optimistic, barter network representatives have been hit with a harsh reality check as the companies whose adoption is crucial to the growth of their services have moved cautiously.

“The real problem never really was the capital controls,” Deligiannis said. “Capital controls can get lifted — but if people have no capital, that makes no difference.”

This story was first published on March 29, 2016.