How the Tianguis Tlaloc System works

The Tlaloc Community Currency System is a combination between the HOURS system and the LETS System, taking the advantages of both while removing the negative aspects of both.

Printed bills and cheque system are the methods of facilitating and recording transactions between the users of the system. Bills are denominated according to time, with a corresponding monetary value of 25 pesos or 3 dollars US per hour.

When a member joins the system, they receive 15 hours in Tlaloc notes, and a 40 hour credit to their account. When they spend the Tlaloc, their account will be recorded as a debit.

The currency is issued into circulation when it is endorsed by the two parties to a transaction who sign the front of the bill. Subsequent recipients of the bill sign their name on the back. There is also a triplicate chequing system which must be signed by both parties three times, with one piece going to each of the parties and third piece going to the administration.

A catalogue of Offers and Requests is printed for the members, identical to those offered by both LETS and HOURS systems, and published every 4 months.

Thus the Tlaloc System has the advantage of ease of transaction offered by the use of the printed bill, with the sound method of issuance offered by the system of accounts. The bill allows transactions to take place between people who may not be members, unlike the LETS system where transactions can only take place between members, while allowing the members to issue their own money, unlike the HOURS system where the currency is issued to the member upon them listing their offers or requests in the Noticeboard.